Angel in Disguise
by KingWykkyd57
Summary: After being expelled from Beacon Academy, Jaune Arc falls into a depressing life of prostitution and regret. All seems lost until a mysterious girl who can't speak enters the picture. But who exactly is this Neopolitan? Is she the angel Jaune has been searching for? Or the demon who will drag him down even further? Rated M for language, drug/alcohol use, and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

***takes deep breath* Breathe in...breathe out...**

 **Anyway, hi everyone! I just got into the whole RWBY thing going on (it literally took my friends three years to convince me to watch it) and I'm hoping I can contribute to the fandom. Although I'm a tad bit nervous since every story here seems to have at least three hundred favorites and follows and honestly those are numbers I only dream of XD Buuuut a guy can still hope, right?**

 **But yeah... This here is a Jaune x Neo fanfiction, if you don't like it then get out. These two were immediately my favorite characters and I can't wait to see what will happen to them in volume 4.**

 **But that's enough of my silly, pointless rambling (something I'm unfortunately known to do). On with the story!**

 **...**

He knew what was coming the moment Glynda Goodwitch called him into Headmaster Ozpin's office.

He didn't want to believe it.

But he _knew_ what was about to happen.

It hadn't even been a full twenty four hours since he confessed himself as a fraud to Pyrrha Nikos, and yet apparently someone managed to find out within that short amount of time.

Jaune's hand gripped the doorknob, feeling that his hand was clammy as sweat gathered on his brow. He knew what was about to happen...

Somehow, someway, Ozpin had discovered what terrible act Jaune Arc had done to worm his way into this school.

He should've known he couldn't keep it a secret, but up until this moment he desperately had clung to that false sense of hope. He hoped he could make it through the trials of Beacon Academy, that he could be the hero he always wanted to be. That he could have a beautiful girlfriend who loved him and supported him, that he could have lifelong friendships with those he had met and those on his teams. He hoped that he could get stronger. Hell, he hoped that he could witness Ren and Nora get married, preferably as Ren's best man.

He had hoped he could prove his family _wrong._

They had little faith in him, he had always known. Jaune's father tried training him, but eventually gave up with a sigh when he realized his son was not some hunter prodigy. His mother always babied him, and right before he left for Beacon she told him there was no shame in coming back home. His sisters were the worst, constantly taunting him and crushing his hopes and self esteem with cruel jests towards his skill and his pride.

So when he found himself inside Beacon Academy, he knew that it was his chance to finally earn the love and respect he desperately wanted from his family.

And now it was all about to crash down on top of him.

Someone cleared their throat behind Jaune, and he turned around to see Glynda glaring at him impatiently. "You may go in now, Mr. Arc," she hissed in annoyance. It was right about then that an embarrassed Jaune realized he had been blankly staring at Ozpin's door for the past five minutes. With a sheepish nod at the teacher, he nervously opened the door and slipped inside, preparing himself to meet his doom.

Ozpin had a calm expression on his face as his eyes never left to boy in front of him, an expression that would intimidate even the most hardened of criminals. Jaune knew it didn't take a detective to figure out that the headmaster was not happy.

"Sit down, Mr. Arc." the headmaster offered, gesturing to the seat across from his desk. The boy obeyed, his whole body shaking at this point.

"Now then," Ozpin began. "Do you know why you're here today, Mr. Arc?"

Jaune hesitated, more sweat forming on his forehead. He eventually decided there was no point to playing dumb, as it would only prolong the inevitable. And not by much at all.

He slowly nodded, a knot in his stomach.

Ozpin sighed and reached to open one of his drawers, pulling out a series of papers that he stacked on top of his desk. "Your transcripts," he explained, and he gave a small, almost silent chuckle. "I must congratulate you or whoever you hired, these forgeries were quite convincing," he admitted, shaking his head as he sipped his coffee. "But due to an anonymous tip we were able to realize our mistake." He leaned in closer, his chin resting against his folded hands. "Did you truly believe you could get away with this, Mr. Arc?"

Jaune flinched at the man's words, his eyes not daring to look into Ozpin's, instead his gaze focused on the fake documents on the desk. So this was it... All his hopes and dreams were finally coming to a bitter end, he was going to be kicked out and he knew there was no hunters school in all of Remnant that would accept him after this crazy stunt. He blew his one chance...

"Mr. Arc?"

Jaune snapped back to attention, and slowly shook his head. "No, sir," he muttered. "I know it would happen eventually."

Ozpin nodded with a light hum. "At least you're honest," he noted. "To some extent, at least." He noticed the boy's visible flinch and sighed heavily. "Mr. Arc, this is a very serious problem. What you did was illegal, normally you would be arrested for something like this." He allowed his words to sink in before continuing. "But... That's not what I'm going to let happen."

Jaune's head shot up in confusion. "E-Excuse me, sir?" He questioned with a tilt of his head.

"I won't have you arrested," Ozpin repeated more clearly. "Regardless of what you did, you are a talented young man with the possibility of a great future ahead of him. I wouldn't want to see anyone's potential go to waste, Mr. Arc. Especially yours."

"Thank you, sir."

"Regardless, you still must be punished." And there it was: the inevitable. "Mr. Arc, due to your actions I have no choice but to expel you from Beacon Academy," the headmaster announced, waiting for the young student's reaction.

Most students would've broke down upon hearing the news, groveling at the headmaster's feet and begging him to reconsider. Jaune Arc wasn't the first student he kicked out, he was certain that Jaune Arc wouldn't be the last. He had seen every trick in the book, from asking to be his personal assistant to attempted seduction. He was wondering what the knight in front of him would bring to the table.

It was to his delighted surprise that Jaune Arc did the noble thing and accepted his punishment without protest. Ozpin couldn't help but admire the boy, it took a great deal of courage to admit your mistakes and deal with the consequences. It pained the headmaster to see such a promising young lad go, but he knew it had to be done. This was the easiest he could go with a punishment...

"May I break the news to my team, sir?" Jaune asked, slowly standing up from his seat.

Ozpin allowed a ghost of a smile to appear on his face. "Of course," he said. "Take all the time you need today, a bullhead will pick you up first thing tomorrow."

Jaune nodded, and wordlessly he left the headmaster's office, keeping a calm and collected look on his face.

It wasn't until he was across the hallway that he allowed himself to break down into sobs.

...

When the knight had made his way back to Team JNPR's room, his teammates could immediately tell something was wrong. Pyrrha took hold on Jaune and slowly sat him down on his bed, with Ren and Nora sitting across from him. It was silent for a moment, the three hunters-in-training waiting patiently for their leader to say something. When nothing was said, it was Nora who broke the heavy silence.

"C'mon, Jaune," she said in a surprisingly serious voice. "Don't leave us hanging." Ren grunted in agreement, reaching over to lay his hand firmly on the blonde's shoulder.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked him, letting the boy use her shoulder for support. "Please tell us." What she meant was that he should tell Ren and Nora, since the warrior herself had a pretty accurate guess of what Jaune was about to say. And the mere thought of those words felt like an arrow piercing her heart.

"Guys..." Jaune began hesitantly, scratching the back of his neck. "I...I've been..." He glanced up and saw his teammates leaning in, and he took a deep breath in order to finish. "I've...been...expelled..." he somehow managed to choke out, the knot in his stomach tightening with each word he forced through his mouth.

You could hear a pin drop.

'Well, this is awkward,' Jaune noted to himself after a minute of silence, before he was tackled to the ground by Nora, who had him wrapped into a death hug.

"You're joking, right?!" She demanded, the emotional pain already evident in her voice. "Y-You're very funny, Jaune! Hahaha, you're a riot!" She teared up. "R-Right...?" She whispered that last part, and Jaune's refusal to look her in the eyes was all she needed as an answer. Pyrrha watched sadly as her friend and teammate slowly backed away from Jaune, her hands slowly moving up to cover her mouth as Ren took hold of her shoulders.

Sighing, Pyrrha turned to her partner and helped him to his feet. "Jaune," she began. "I'm...so sorry. It was the transcripts, I assume?" Jaune nodded silently, and once again an arrow flew right through the warrior.

"W-What transcripts?" Nora spoke up, glancing at the two as Ren held her gently.

"...sit down, everyone," the knight ordered gently, not answering the female viking's question. "There's something about me you guys need to know..."

With Pyrrha guiding him along, Jaune Arc forced himself to tell his story once more. He told his loyal team about how he never received proper combat training due to his father giving up on him, and how because of that he never enrolled into a combat school. He told them that out of desperation, he gathered enough money to hire a man to make convincing transcripts that would allow him to enroll in Beacon Academy. He told them about how much of a fraud he was, about how he didn't deserve to be their leader. This was quickly silenced by Pyrrha's tender embrace.

"You're the best leader we could've ever asked for, Jaune," she whispered into his ear, rubbing his back softly. "We all love you, and it's painful to watch you go... I-we-" She quickly corrected herself, a mild blush forming. "We...wish you the best of luck, Jaune."

"This isn't fair!" Nora was crying into Ren's shoulder. "This isn't fair! Why can't they just let Jaune stay..."

...

It was the very next day, seven o'clock in the morning to be exact. Jaune Arc was standing outside of Beacon Academy as the bullhead slowly made its landing in front of him. Behind him were his teammates from Team JNPR, as well as the members of Team RWBY. Both teams had come to see the knight off, and say their goodbyes.

"I'm really gonna miss you, Jaune," Ruby murmured into the boy's chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him. "I had a lot of fun with you around, and I hope we can see you again."

"You will," Jaune assured the younger girl with a soft smile, before he was nearly knocked to the ground by Yang's 'pat' on the back.

"Never knew you were such a rebel, vomit boy," she jested, trying to make light of the mood. She then helped him stand straight, before lightly punching his shoulder, causing her fellow blonde to wince slightly. "Just... Remember to call every now and then, okay?"

Jaune gave a smile and a nod, deciding that it was pointless to try to correct the stupid nickname at this point.

Blake...didn't have much to say to him. Not like Jaune could be surprised, since the two had hardly interacted during his time at Beacon. She simply gave him a curt "good luck" and that was the end of that.

Weiss's farewell was a bit more surprising. She strutted towards him with her signature scowl on her face. "You're horribly dense at times, your hygiene could use some serious work..."

"I get the idea, Weiss."

"...you flirt with me constantly, you refuse to take a hint..."

"Weiss..."

"And yet..." She smiled gently, pulling the blonde into a gentle hug. "I can't help but miss you already... Don't forget about us, okay?"

"I could never do that, snow angel," he told her. "I promise I'll call you guys often. Just because I'm expelled doesn't mean I can't see you guys, right?"

As he pulled away from Team RWBY, he turned to his own teammates, stepping up to Ren first.

"This may seem a bit sudden," he started. "But... Think you can lead the team for me?"

"Of course," Ren replied. "Although you know we'll all still consider you our leader, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Jaune smiled sadly. "I'm not anymore."

"Nonsense," the ninja argued sternly. "But anyway... I'll do my best, Jaune."

Next he turned to Nora, who was trying her best to keep a happy grin plastered on her face. Jaune simply rolled his eyes and opened his arms to her. "Nora..." He sighed. "Come here."

In an instant he was nearly tackled again as the energetic woman flung herself on top of him. "I'm...gonna miss you, y-y'know," she hiccuped. "Team JNPR was my first taste at a real family, I-I don't wanna see it get torn apart!"

"It'll be alright, Nora," Jaune comforted as best he could. It was moments like these that he was thankful for having seven sisters. "I promise I'll visit you soon."

Nora sniffled and nodded. Then she chuckled. "I...I think Pyrrha will miss you most of all," she hinted, knowing that the dense boy wouldn't have a clue of what she was talking about.

As she backed away Jaune turned to his former partner in confusion, only to have something warm and soft press against his lips. His eyes widened when he realized that Pyrrha Nikos, the most badass woman he knew, kissed him squarely on the mouth. He could barely process his brain as his friends cheered, and one of the pilots of the bullhead reluctantly handed the other a check for one thousand lien.

No one noticed the jealous look that crossed Ruby's face.

Pyrrha finally pulled away and smiled shyly towards her now not-so-secret crush. "Take care of yourself, Jaune," she told him, and the knight could do nothing more than nod dumbly.

Finally, after all goodbyes were said, Jaune Arc boarded the bullhead and watched as the image of his friends got smaller and smaller, until finally they disappeared from his view.

Little did the knight know that he was going to break each and every promise he made to his friends...

...

 **Was that ending a bit too rushed? It was, wasn't it? Yeeeeah... Oh well, I promise you guys that pacing WILL get better during the course of the story! HAVE SOME FAITH IN ME!**

 **And yeah... No Neo-waifu in this chapter :( But she'll appear in the next one (assuming people want a second chapter, that is .-. Sometimes stories can just be a colossal failure, y'know? I've dealt with that a few times, it really sucks...)**

 **Anyway... I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I hope you guys want more of it! (because Neo, bruh) Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd! (calling cards are my best friend, I swear to God)**

 **...**

 **Seriously. Review. It's like the one thing that keeps me confident.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Holy. Fucking. Shit.**

 **I was not expecting this. Repeat: I was NOT expecting this! I'm gone for like a day, and I come back to see that this little guy has EXPLODED into popularity! Okay, it's not the MOST popular thing out there, far from it actually, but it definitely picked up a fair amount of attention in such little time when compared to most of my other works. Basically, I'm not used to this much praise all at once. It's kind of intimidating XD I've been in the fanfiction community for three or four years now, and yet I still feel like a little noob compared to just about everyone else...**

 **So... Yeah, no pressure. Just everyone expecting a perfect story out of me... No problem...not...at...all ;-;**

 **Um...I'll be fine. I have my own little team I can turn to if I ever dig myself a grave, but then again... They're idiots. Damn.**

 **ENJOY THE CHAPTER WHILE I TRY TO CALM THE FUCK DOWN!**

 **...**

She had been watching the boy for the past twenty minutes now.

She could already tell what kind of guy he was. Young, looking fresh out of high school, tall, dorky, messy blonde hair...

Textbook definition of a total loser.

And she loved it.

To her, it was the nervous wrecks that were the funnest to mess around with. They would never see her coming, they would break at the slightest twitch from her lips, they would faint at even the briefest glance of the valley between her breasts. Hell, she could probably touch the guy's arm right now and he'd cum in his pants.

Oh, how little miss Neo _loved_ being in control.

It was because of this..interest...that she was hanging out in Junior's club instead of participating in another one of Roman's dust robberies. Not that she didn't enjoy working with the stylish criminal, in many ways his company was actually...somewhat enjoyable. Mostly because he, along with every single one of his goons, knew Neo was the one who was really in charge.

If she truly had the desire to do it, Neo could slaughter Roman and all of his men at the drop of a hat. But that would be a waste... Roman was too useful to her, and she was too useful to him. It was a perfect partnership, they balanced each other out beautifully, kept the other from going off the deep end.

Neo frowned.

Well... _Almost_ perfect.

Roman was horrendous in the bedroom.

She didn't mean it as an insult or anything like that, she was certain his drive could bring ecstasy to _any_ woman he could get his hands on. Any woman, except Neo. He was too demanding, he loved being the dominant. He loved a woman choking on his length, not a woman teasing it.

Which is what Neo would've done had Roman complied. It was Neo who dominated in bed, not Roman or anyone else!

So...one could say that she and Roman needed some space at the moment, hence why she chose not to help him out with his latest heist. So here she was, sipping some unknown alcohol that one of Junior's thugs had delivered to her. She normally would've preferred a bowl of delicious ice cream, but unfortunately Junior had told her that he was out of stock.

The only thing that stopped her from killing the fool was his promise to give her the next stock entirely as well as the ice cream truck that it would be delivered in.

Oh how fun it was being feared by these meat-heads.

She took another sip of the yellowish drink as she stared at the boy Junior was currently serving. His shoulders were heavily slumped, no doubt he was either drunk off his ass or in a pretty big pile of depression. She hoped it was the former, it would make things a whole lot easier.

Oh well... Downing the rest of her drink, Neo stood up and slowly crept towards her target, looking forward to a fun night with the kid. A cat-like grin emerged from her small lips as she sat down next to him, her hand stealthily inching closer towards his, almost laughing at the thought of some awkward teenager stumbling and blushing at the mere touch of someone of the opposite sex.

No one would ever be able to tell if she was just horny or psychotic. It was kind of hard to tell when she was mute.

She was almost there when she froze at a peculiar sound. Raising an eyebrow, she took a closer look at her target's youthful face. Was he...was he crying? Neo rolled her eyes. Great...so it was depression. And here she was hoping she could have a good time. Still, since she was already right next to him she figured she could at least try to figure out what got him acting so gloomy. After all, it was a personal life lesson of Neo's that one should always keep a smile on his or her face, no matter the situation.

Of course this life lesson always cause people to run away in fear whenever she killed with a charming grin... But that probably didn't matter at the moment.

Probably.

She noted that his eyes were bloodshot, yet tears still ran down his cheeks. Okay, so she could guess that he has been like this for awhile. Neo's brown and pink eyes drifted down to the glass of...something...he held- no... Practically clutched in his right hand. She watched closely as he gulped down the burning liquid in one go, and she couldn't help but admire that. He actually could hold a drink, not many people like him could. However, the moment was gone when she saw him slam his fist down onto the counter top, his shoulders shaking as he let out choked sobs.

"Goddammit...Goddammit...Goddammit..." he chanted under his breath, earning a rare twinge of sympathy from Neo. Yeah, she knew people got depressed, but... She never expected that a _guy_ would be so down in the dumps that he'd openly start weeping in public. For a moment Neo thought she should wrap her arms around him, and find a way to tell him that whether he liked it or not, the world was cruel and the best he could do was keep moving forward.

Of course, it was only for a moment...

Sighing, she knew it could possibly damage her reputation if she was seen sitting here with some tear-stained mess, but then again she felt like she had to at least do _something._ Neo silently listed off some possible options. 'I could talk to him...' She thought, but then remembered that she technically couldn't talk. 'I could order him another drink, maybe I could...' Her signature smirk reappeared on her face. 'Heh...I think that might work...'

...

How long has it been? About...a month and a half, if Jaune really had to guess. Yeah, that sounded about right. A month and a half since he had been forced to leave behind such a good and promising life. A month and a _fucking_ half since he was expelled and here he was losing already losing all his dignity and shit he had left. He wondered to himself what had got him into the position he was currently in: drinking in some shady criminal hideout and losing himself to whatever he could find.

After all, he promised his team he would visit them.

'Former team,' he reminded himself bitterly.

They were better off without him, he had decided. They would be horrified, they would be _disgusted_ by how he was living his life. On the streets, eating out of the trash or whatever he could find. Working in petty crime and prostitution (yeah, he said it... Prostitution) just to make a quick few bucks. Only to spend it on useless bullshit like a night drinking at Junior's. Yeah, his life was total shit right now.

He could only really hope that Pyrrha could forgive him, although he knew it would likely never happen.

He hadn't returned home like everyone thought he had. During the ride in the bullhead a month and a half ago, he was alone with his thoughts just long enough to realize that he couldn't go back home. Not when he had been expelled. That would've proved them _right,_ that he couldn't accomplish his stupid dream. That he was worthless, that he should've never enrolled.

He knew that returning home would just bring more shame to the Arc family than he had already offered. So, he somehow managed to convince the pilot to drop him off in the middle of Vale, and then he ran. He ran away from his problems like a coward, foolishly leaving his luggage behind without a second thought.

Of course he eventually realized that running had been a horrible choice too, that he should've gone home and faced the consequences. But no matter how much he wished he could reverse time, he had made his decision. And by the time he had realized his stupid slip-up, it was by far too late.

He was in too deep.

He couldn't get any real job, not even a part time one. He had no experience, no skills, no knowledge of a resume. Sure, he had _tried_ to get jobs, but no matter what he attempted to woo his would-be employers, no one would even spare him a second glance as he was ordered away.

It wasn't until a mugger offered to share some of his 'prizes' with Jaune that the former knight realized that in this hell-hole he was forced to call home, he had to be willing to do anything and everything to get by.

And so that's what he did. He did anything he could just to get a scrap of food, warmth, clothing...

He was only thankful that he never had to _kill_ anyone. At least, not yet...

He shuddered at the very thought of murder.

But something like prostitution... Yeah, that was something he had done. He hated it. He hated the hungry looks both men and women gave him, he hated how he was treated because of the 'profession'. If he were a faunus, he probably would've joined the White Fang without a second thought.

He couldn't help it at that point as he gulped down the rest of his 'drink'. It burned, sizzling down his throat and into his shriveled stomach. How long has it been since he had a semi-decent meal? Three days, and that was a small hamburger from some dinky fast food joint.

He couldn't help it when he began tearing up again, and before he knew it he was sobbing. "Goddammit...Goddammit...Goddammit..." He murmured through his hiccups. Fuck this life. He hated it. He _hated_ it! He should've just gone home, he should've kept contact with his friends at Beacon, he shouldn't have been such a fucking idiot!

But he knew there was no helping it. Once you were in this lifestyle, there was no getting out of it. He was sure he would've just died as a nameless street rat, without anyone to remember him.

At first he didn't notice the tap on his shoulder. Or the second one. Or even the third one.

He noticed the fourth one, though. Mostly because it was less of a tap and more of a slap to the back of his head. Wincing at the brief pain, he glanced up in minor annoyance to find the source of the hit, when suddenly he felt a small pair of lips crash against his. His eyes immediately widened upon the intimate contact, and he let out a muffled cry of shock as his mystery partner deepened it, wrapping her (he sure as hell hoped it was a her) arms around his neck.

Normally he hated something like this, and while he did find it uncomfortable... It wasn't like the rough, sloppy mouth rapes he was used to receiving. This kiss was lustful, yes, but it had a playful feel to it. Like whoever was kissing him had no intention to harm him, she only wanted a kiss.

The mystery partner finally pulled away, revealing herself to the former Beacon student. Even a depressed idiot like him had to admit she was oddly beautiful... Her hair was evenly colored pink and brunette, with streaks of white showing on the pink side. Her face was cat like, full of mischief and mirth, but somehow hiding a sinister glint in her eyes. Speaking of her eyes... Jaune had to do a double take when he saw them suddenly _switch_ colors, the eye that was brown was now pink while the one that was pink was now brown.

The woman had an assortment of necklaces draping across her chest, barely reaching the valley between her...very nice looking breasts. She wore a white jacket whose front only covered her upper torso, leaving her lower torso dressed in a blackish-brown corset. She finished off her look with brown pants and white boots, with a pink umbrella dangling from one of her forearms.

"C-can I help you?" Jaune asked after a minute of silence. She was probably just here for 'business', and as much as he wasn't in the mood he knew he couldn't refuse.

The woman shrugged, then gave him a quizzical look that took him a minute to interpret. Realizing she must have been asking him what was wrong, the blonde shook his head and took a chug from the glass the bartender had just refilled. "Nothing's wrong," he lied, not even attempting to hide it. "Just... Dealing with the past."

Despite his answer, the woman accepted it with a curt nod. He had expected her to leave, but it was ten seconds later that he realized his mysterious companion was still staring at him.

'Probably just wants a quick fuck.' he decided, turning back towards the woman. "Can I help you?" He asked for a second time, slightly annoyed that he could no longer be alone with his thoughts.

The woman got a mischievous look in her unique eyes, and in an instant she was straddling him, the look she gave him being the only answer he needed.

'Yup... Just wanted to fuck.'

Suddenly he felt his scroll in his pocket vibrate, letting him know he got a message. With a heavy sigh, he opened the message, skimming it over with tired eyes, the alcohol beginning to catch up with him.

 **In the mood tonight, get over to the usual spot ASAP ~Melody**

He groaned inwardly. Great, it _had_ to be Melody... Stupid bitch was always in the mood, and she always made sure to never make the experience enjoyable for him.

He hated doing this, but he knew he needed money.

Well...not anymore...

He briefly glanced down at the bulge in his other pocket, before quickly typing a response and pressing send, confirming that he would be there as soon as possible. He pocketed his scroll, before turning his attention back to tiny woman still straddling him. "Sorry..." He apologized. "I've got business to attend to..."

The woman pouted before reluctantly sliding off, settling back in her own seat with her arms crossed across her chest in a way that could ignorantly be described as adorable. The moment she was off, Jaune slapped some lien on the counter top and wiped the last of his tears away, turning away from the bar and exiting with a slight stumble in his dragged out steps.

'Tonight, I'm finally putting an end to this,' he told himself. 'Pyrrha, Ren, Nora... I hope you guys can forgive me.'

...

Well that was a huge bust, Neo had decided. She sighed and waved her hand towards one of the bartenders, signaling that she wanted another drink. Here was this really cute guy who she nearly had wrapped around her fingers, only for him to slip away too soon.

Pretty disappointing, if you asked her.

With a huff she snatched the drink away from the bartender she waved at, gulping half of it down in one go before suddenly grinning. Hehe... He _did_ seem to enjoy it, though, considering the huge bulge she felt straining against his pants. She licked her lips and chuckled silently. Another reason why she liked the dorks...

They held the _biggest_ surprises.

"Hey, Neo," Junior's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced up at the owner with an obvious look of annoyance. Junior seemed to notice this, as he held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, relax," he told her. "I just wanted a favor from you, that's all."

 _'What's in it for me?"_ her eyes clearly asked as she took another sip of alcohol.

Junior seemed to be in thought for a moment, before he sighed and shook his head, grumbling to himself as he dug into his pocket and slapped five coupons down onto the counter top. "They were originally supposed to be a gift for my niece, but I guess you can have them." he muttered. "Five coupons to the best ice cream shops in town, each lasts a week starting tomorrow. All you gotta do is flash them to the employee and you get a free bowl of whatever ice cream flavor you want." He narrowed his eyes at the tiny girl. "It took me forever to get these so you better be willing to do me a solid."

Neo eagerly nodded, the thought of free ice cream for a week to good to refuse. She snatched the coupons up and stuffed them down her shirt, her eyes asking Junior to name the favor.

Junior gestured towards the club's exit. "That kid you were just flirting with," he explained. "Well, he comes in here often, and we talk sometimes, but he mostly just drinks away and gives off this really depressing vibe. A depressed guy isn't exactly what we want around here, but as long as he pays then we can't really force him out." He glanced cautiously towards Neo, as if he was wondering whether or not it was a good idea to be asking the mute to do this.

Neo simply returned his gaze with a sly smirk.

Junior eventually gave in and continued. "So... I was just wondering if you could look after the kid for me?" He paused briefly before speaking again. "I don't know, it's kind of out of character for me but I'm kind of worried about the kid. He reminds me of just the tiniest bit of myself."

Neo thought about it for a moment. On one hand, playing babysitter didn't sound so appealing... But on the other hand... Neo grinned wickedly.

 _On the other hand,_ she'd get free ice cream for a week and a cute dork all to herself.

It was obvious which hand she picked.

She stood up and laid some lien down, nodding her answer to Junior. The owner, as well as his entire staff present, let out a collective sigh of relief much to the amusement of the small criminal.

Oh, how she loved the fear she held over everyone.

...

 **Aaaaand that's a wrap! Honestly I wrote this like only a few hours after posting the actual story :P I guess I just wanted to crank what I can out while I still had some sanity left inside me. Sooo... Jaune's life kinda sucks ass, now doesn't it? And I hope you guys enjoyed Neo being kind of a... Lover of the bedroom, let's just say. I'm honestly kinda worried that characterization might tick off a few people, but the story is rated M for a reason...**

 **Oh yeah, I totally lied to you guys in the summary. There isn't gonna be a possible lemon, this story is gonna have its fair share of sexual activity in it, but I can promise you that it won't act as smut for the sake of smut. If it's in there, it's because there's an actual reason for it being there.**

 **Or at least that's what I'm gonna tell myself :')**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the second chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **(PS: Yeah, I did a time skip... Fight me! Actually, don't fight me...I suck at fighting.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**This story becomes more and more popular with each passing hour, and I've barely started on it! Seriously guys, I only DREAM about this kind of attention. So thanks for breathing life into that dream ;-; Bless all of your souls, each and every one.**

 **Still worried I might screw all of this up, though... I tend to have shitty luck and when something goes right for me...it doesn't take long for things to go wrong. (Heh...rhymes.)**

 **Buuuut moving past all of my doubts... I was asked by one of my reviewers to answer the following question: Will Jaune be dragged down even further? My answer? Bruh, the guy is literally sucking a dick for cash, how much further can he go? But if you must know... Maaaybe ;)**

 **And yes. It is completely okay to wanna hug him right now. After all, everyone needs an occasional hug, some a bit more than others. On with the story!**

 **...**

The "usual spot", as Jaune had learned to call it, was a small alleyway between two run down and seedy apartment buildings owned by some jackass the knight never bothered to get acquainted with. More specifically, the "usual spot" was between a dumpster and a rusted, broken medical vehicle that one could guess no one bothered to get rid of. It was well hidden, assuring privacy from those looking to sneak a peek of some action. It was here that Jaune did his "business" with his customers, as he didn't want to be seen anywhere else.

It was about a ten minute walk from Junior's, but for Jaune it lasted an eternity as he dragged his feet against the cracked concrete, not looking forward to what he was about to do. He had met Melody, his most frequent customer, about two weeks after being expelled from Beacon, and almost immediately she taught him how to survive in the "trade" of a prostitute, as she had been one herself a few years prior. He hated it, he hated it so much but he knew he had to earn a living _somehow,_ and it turned out that sex was just the easiest way.

He never liked Melody. The deer faunus was a manipulative bitch who cared about nothing but herself. She was abusive, not hesitating to kick Jaune straight in the ribs if he didn't meet her demands. Granted, he had to admit she was quite a looker, but that was all she had going for her (and he was thoroughly convinced that her large breasts were fake).

"You're late," her subtle Vacuo accent hissed as the former knight reluctantly hauled himself into view, his eyes not meeting hers.

"I was at the club," he mumbled, eyes drifting toward's the faunus's crotch, which he could see was beginning to dampen.

Melody scoffed and shook her head. "Why spend time in some dump all alone when you could have this everyday?" She asked suggestively, gesturing at her hourglass figure.

'Maybe because you're a cunt,' Jaune replied in his mind, biting his tongue to keep the words from escaping. "Who says I was alone?" He challenged instead, finally meeting his customer's eyes. Her eyes were a deep, dark brown, a color that would have most begging to be with her. But Jaune knew better, his time with the woman allowed him to recognize the cold, hardened glare he hated so much.

"Please, Jaune," she sneered. "I'm the only one who would actually want you. The guys are just pedophiles and the girls are just desperate." She leaned in closer. "You do know that, right?"

Jaune narrowed his eyes at the faunus, wishing she would just get out of his life. But that was another problem with living in the slums... Once you know someone, they were going to be in your life forever until one of you (or both) was dead. Letting out a tired sigh, he growled, "Are we going to do this or not?"

Melody's eyes glinted with lust and glee. "Eager, aren't we?" she teased, leaning in to kiss his jawline. Jaune grimaced, finding no pleasure from the act. Well, at least his mind didn't...

Jaune glared down at his growing erection, annoyed that his body decided to betray him.

Suddenly, Melody pulled away and gave sly grin, and for a brief moment she was replaced by the strange girl he had met at Junior's image, unfortunately, disappeared when the deer-girl hastily undid her jean shorts, sliding them along with her soaked panties down past her knees, before positioning herself on the hood of the abandoned vehicle. She spread her legs wide and lightly began to rub her clit as her clouded eyes burned right through Jaune.

"Get to work." she ordered the blonde, throwing her head back in anticipation.

 **(Brief lemon ahead! Skip past it if you're not into that sort of thing!)**

Jaune shuddered as he slowly lowered his face towards the older woman's moist center, the tip of his tongue barely poking out of his mouth as its tip gently flicked against her outer tips, earning a quiet moan from the faunus. Jaune continued his soft licks, deciding to tease the woman just a bit more before diving into her snatch.

He quickly dipped his tongue inside, barely entering before he pulled back out. Melody whined as he pulled away, only to let out a loud cry of pleasure as the boy's mouth enveloped her clit, while two of his fingers plunged inside her, wiggling inside her folds and thrusting in and out. _"Fuck..."_ She squealed as she felt something inside her stir. She didn't know where Jaune learned to do this, but he always seemed to have some sort of 'magic touch' when it came to sex.

Jaune swirled his tongue sloppily over and around Melody's clit, lightly pulling on it while making loud suckling noises. He let out a long, drawn out moan against the woman's sensitive bundle of nerves, not due to pleasure but rather just to earn a reaction out of the faunus. As expected, the deer-girl hybrid practically let out sobs of ecstasy, wrapping her creamy thighs around Jaune's head, pulling him deeper into her core.

Jaune expected this, but he was still taken by surprise by the sudden lack of oxygen, all he could breathe in were Melody's juices, which were began to flow out as she neared her orgasm.

Rolling his eyes, he gently began to nibble around Melody's clit, before moving lower towards her wet slit, adding a third finger and thrusting faster than before, determined to get this over with and end it quickly. It was a trick he had learned that brought Melody to climax every single time.

 _"Jaune..."_ she cooed, grinding herself against his tongue. _"Jaune, Jaune, Jaune... I'm...I'm gonna..."_

As the words left her mouth, they were quickly lost in a scream of bliss as Melody reached her climax, her cum spilling out all over Jaune's mouth and tongue. Jaune tried his best not to gag as he held her juices inside his mouth, his taste buds begging him to spit out the vile liquid. He pulled away, trying to keep his breathing steady as he focused on not accidentally swallowing anything.

 **(Lemon has ended!)**

Melody eventually recovered from her high after a few minutes of heavy panting, ungracefully sliding herself off of the truck and yanking her pants and panties back up. She glanced down at Jaune, who was leaning against the dumpster with his head down, once again avoiding the faunus's eyes. The older woman scoffed and reached into her wallet, pulling out five lien and carelessly tossing it towards the boy, the money landing by his sneakers.

"Good to see you haven't lost your touch," she remarked as she began the walk back home. "I'll send you a text when I'm ready for more."

Jaune didn't make any noise or movement until she was gone.

The moment he was sure the woman had disappeared, he spat out her cum, wiping his mouth and tongue across his sleeve as he gagged over and over. God, that woman tasted _disgusting!_ Jaune had heard stories about how a woman's juices were supposed to be the most delicious thing on the planet, but it turns out that _someone_ must have been a fucking liar!

He couldn't do this.

He couldn't do this anymore!

He refused to be some woman's man-whore forever!

'Pyrrha,' he thought as the image of the famous warrior flashed before his eyes, soon followed by a young oriental man and a bubbly ginger. 'Ren, Nora...' He chuckled bitterly to himself. Christ, if only they saw him now... They would think he was pathetic, and they wouldn't be wrong.

Jaune was pathetic.

His life was pathetic.

His entire _existence_ was pathetic.

The former knight glanced down at the heavy object in his pocket for the second time that night, his fingers gently weaving into his pockets to caress it. The object gave him a strange sense of comfort, a warmth he hadn't felt since Beacon beckoning to him. He allowed a now rare smile to cross his young features. A sad smile...

'Might as well get it done now,' he decided, slowly drawing out the dust-infused revolver he had swiped from one of Junior's goons upon entering the club earlier that night. The revolver was a powerful one, Jaune recognizing it as one a veteran hunter might use during his or her missions. In theory, this weapon would be powerful enough to shatter his aura upon pulling the trigger, thus ending his misery instantly.

That is, assuming he had any aura left in his body.

The gun was almost out of his pocket when he suddenly heard someone clear his or her throat across from him. Instincts from his time as a hunter in training kicked in, and with a startled gasp Jaune yanked out the revolver and aimed it at whoever decided to invade his privacy.

Brown and pink eyes blinked in amusement, causing Jaune to slowly lowered the revolver.

It was just that weird girl again...

...

Neo had observed the entire encounter between her new 'toy' and the faunus girl, and it admittedly had left her aroused. She was thankful that she was mute as she pleasured herself behind two trashcans, eagerly watching as the boy ate out the faunus. Neo's signature smirk morphed into a face of pleasure as she imagined him doing that to _her._ The kid was obviously talented despite his unassuming appearance, and the thought of him belonging to her only excited Neo further.

She was licking off the juices sticking to her slender fingers as she watched the faunus carelessly tossed...five lien...at the boy's direction. This caused the mute assassin to frown. Five lien? Only _five lien?!_ Neo scoffed as she secretly added the faunus to her mental hit list, believing that after the performance he just gave the blonde deserved a hell of a lot more than just five lien.

After cleaning herself, Neopolitan continued to watch her latest target, who she noticed was reaching for his pocket. Natural curiosity took over the girl's mind, and she slowly emerged from her hiding place, giving a barely audible 'ahem' to get his attention.

When he pulled out the gun, Neo almost burst out laughing. She couldn't help it, he looked too cute when he was trying to look tough! Chuckling silently, she held her hands as a sign that she wouldn't hurt him, and the boy slowly lowered the revolver. She smirked again as he nervously shifted around, his eyes glancing away from her, only for them to be pulled back a few moments later. The two stayed like that for a few moments, neither making any move to do anything, until the boy finally opened his mouth to speak.

"What do you want?" He asked her, sounding a lot more exhausted from when they first met.

Neo grinned her cat-like grin, pointing a finger at him as she flirtatiously winked. The boy gave a heavy and tired sigh, attempting to glare at the girl and failing miserably.

"Yeah, well we're closed," he murmured sarcastically, jabbing his finger towards the exit of the alleyway. "Just go home or something, will you?"

Neo tilted her head and tapped her chin as if she were in thought, but shaking her head no and giggling.

The blonde raised an eyebrow, but eventually shrugged. He then picked up the money the faunus left behind, before extending it towards the multicolored girl. "Here," he offered. "I don't need it."

Neo once again shook her head no, before taking out her scroll and typing a quick message, showing it to the boy when she was done.

 **No, you earned it.**

The boy bit his lip. "You're not much of a talker," he mumbled, before his eyes widened and his face went red. "W-Wait!" he stuttered, jumping away as he awkwardly shuffled about. "Y-You saw that?!"

Neo nodded, her ever present smirk growing in size and sass. She typed another message into her scroll.

 **You were quite impressive, kid. I wouldn't mind going a few rounds with you ;) interested?**

"I-um...I...uh..." The boy was at a lost for words, and this time Neo couldn't help it as she broke down into a fit of laughter, collapsing on the ground and clutching her stomach.

'This'll be funner than I thought!' She thought to herself as various fantasies already began swirling inside her head.

"Sure..." she heard the boy grumble. "Just laugh at my misery, why don't you?" He sat back down and once again reached for his gun. She heard him pull back the hammer, and she stopped her laughing to curiously see what he was doing. She typed another message and practically shoved her scroll into his face.

 **What are you doing?**

"What does it look like?" he hissed, his patience apparently wearing thin. He waved the revolver in emphasis, before slowly aiming it towards himself. "Now just leave me alone, okay? I don't want my last moments to be spent with some weird girl I don't know."

 **Don't.**

She had typed her message and shoved it in his face so fast he accidentally dropped the revolver, which was followed by a high pitched yelp.

"W-What?"

 **Don't.** She repeated her message, her eyes hardened. She slowly reached down and wrapped her fingers around the revolver, her eyes never leaving his. With a bit more effort than she was used to, she chucked the revolver over their heads, and it landed in the dumpster with a satisfying _clang._

The boy turned his head to look at the dumpster he was leaning against, before turning back to Neo in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly silenced as Neo covered his mouth with her hand.

Call it a moment of weakness for Neo. Sure, she was the most feared assassin in the criminal underworld, but she wasn't _heartless._ At least, that's what she told herself. Neo didn't really know how to deal with depression or suicide, since she never actually went through something like that herself. Therefore, she really didn't have a solid clue about what to do with the young man slouched in front of her.

All that she could tell was that he was making a mistake.

That, and she promised Junior she'd take care of the guy. And she didn't want to miss such a golden opportunity such as having the blonde all to herself. It wasn't like she was completely pure or anything, the girl still had her personal wants. And what Neo wants, Neo gets.

She used her free hand to type another message on her scroll, before showing it to the boy. **I'm Neo, what's your name?**

She pulled her hand away from his mouth so he could answer, but he remained silent, confusion and shock still evident in his expression. Neo sighed and patiently waited for him to answer, tapping her foot against the ground.

"J-Jaune," he finally said, barely loud enough for her to hear.

Jaune, huh? Neo grinned and licked her lips. 'Perfect...'

That settled it. Making her final decision, Neo grabbed onto Jaune's hand and the two stood up. She instantly began leading him out of the alleyway, much to the confusion of her new slightly younger companion. "W-wait," he lamely protested. "Where are we going?"

A sly, almost seductive grin appeared, and she turned back to him and simply mouthed _'My place.'_

It took Jaune a moment to understand what she said, but the moment she did he sprung into action, desperately struggling to get away but failed due to Neo's iron grip. Deciding to 'calm him down' the tiny female yanked the blonde towards her, quickly leaning up to peck his lips. Immediately Jaune stopped struggling, too dumbfounded to attempt escape. With a satisfied nod and a cute wink, she grabbed his hand again and led him away from the alleyway.

'This is going to be fun,' she thought mischievously, licking her lips once more.

...

 **I rewrote this chapter like twenty times and in the end I figured this one would get the least amount of criticism :/ I know some of you are gonna make me sit in the corner with the "dunce" hat, but I hope it's not TOO bad. Anyway, I hope none of you actually enjoyed that lemon XD It was purposefully meant to be not sexy because I wanted to make it clear-ish that Jaune didn't want to be doing that. But whatever.**

 **So Neo and Jaune's story officially begins! Woo! Neo seems to only want him because of her...hobby, but will it remain so? This ain't gonna be a perfect romance story XD Jaune and Neo are obviously gonna have a lot of problems, thus explaining the whole "angel or demon" thing in the summary. Yup, a lot of struggles and angst/drama are in store for our heroes, and I can't wait to start writing all that suffering ;)**

 **Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, I've got nothing to say but I do have a reputation to keep (a reputation that involves absolutely worthless author's notes), so I guess I'll take a moment to respond to some reviews... *clears throat***

 **patleon909: Yeah, I get what you're saying XD And don't worry, there will be some Arkos moments here despite what the main pairing is! (and if no one caught on to it before, just a tiny bit of Nora x Jaune as well... But more platonic than anything else, it's just fun to explore their relationship a bit)**

 **Nnox Inkuree: Thanks, dude or dudette, you're my favorite reviewer!**

 **Nh1xxs: Yeah... I'm working on it...**

 **Warhawk07: SilentKnight is my CrackTP (one true crack shipping) ;P**

 **wagner: Thanks, but... Based on your review I don't think you truly understand what this story is supposed to be. This isn't a story about Jaune finding his semblance or turning into some sort of anti-hero. All I'm writing is the story of an unlucky guy trying to keep himself from falling apart. If you want something that involves a darker or more badass Jaune, you're looking in the wrong place.**

 **Anyway, now that I got that out of the way, I guess we can move on with the story! Enjoy the chapter, everyone!**

 **...**

Ten minutes passed and Neo still hasn't led Jaune to her home or whatever. Ten minutes of her just dragging him across town in her usual silence, with that sly and possibly even cruel smirk she always wore on her delicate face. Jaune's arm had gone numb two minutes ago thanks to the small girl's iron grip on his wrist, and the blonde found himself wishing he had enough common sense to leave the usual spot before attempting to kill himself.

He didn't want to be with Neo right now, he knew what her game was. She didn't care whether or not he shot himself, she had made it clear many times what her plans for him were. Jaune gritted his teeth as he continued to stare at the woman who was leading him to God knows where. He was just another piece of fucking meat for her to devour, something to satisfy her once and then forgotten soon after.

She didn't care.

No one did.

Not her, not Melody, not his family or...

Jaune closed his eyes to stop more tears from coming out. He didn't want to cry anymore, that's why he was trying to end it in the first place! And then this horny mute just had to ruin it all!

'Pyrrha...' was the only thing that crossed his mind.

Good God, he always wondered what the red-haired beauty would say to him if she ever saw the former knight in his current state. He shuddered, already feeling the judgement she and the rest of his former team would deliver. The disappointment, the anger, the frustration and the _hatred._ Yes, he was completely convinced that they would _hate_ him if they ever saw him again.

 _"Why didn't you ever visit us?!" the Nora inside his head demanded, her eyes full of angry tears and her fists tightly clenched at her sides. "You broke your promise, you jerk! I...I hate you, Jaune!"_

 _"The team is better off without you, anyway," Lie Ren hissed with arms crossed against his chest. "You're a pathetic, sorry excuse for a leader. It's for the best that you just...disappear."_

 _"Jaune..." Pyrrha whispered, her eyes full of betrayal. "You...You..."_

 _SLAP!_

 _"You sorry excuse for a man!" she cried as tears ran down her perfect features. "I can't believe I wasted my time with you, Jaune! You... You're not a hero, a-and you never will be! JUST STAY OUT OF OUR LIVES!"_

 **Are you okay?**

Jaune snapped out of his imagination when Neo suddenly thrust her scroll into his view, the message mere inches away from his eyes. Jaune didn't answer, instead glancing over towards the girl herself, who still held his wrist, yet had a _mildly_ concerned expression on her face. She tilted her head curiously at his silence, before pulling her scroll away and quickly typing a new message with just her thumb. She looked over it with a satisfied nod, before showing it to her younger companion.

 **You seem distracted, wanna talk about it? I might not look like it but I won't bite if you open up a bit ;)**

Jaune stared blankly at the message, briefly considering if he should tell Neo what his problem was. After all, she did stop him from-

No.

She didn't _really_ care about him.

She only wanted him for a sex toy.

As soon as it was over she'd throw him back out on the streets.

With these thoughts in mind, the disgraced boy narrowed his eyes into suspicious slits, managing to just barely startle Neo out of her usual cat-like grin. She mouthed his name, unknowingly loosening her grip on the former knight.

And with that single action Jaune took his chance. He violently wrenched his hand out of hers, accidentally throwing the girl off balance, causing her to fall and land painfully on her rear. She winced, then glanced back up at him with genuine shock written all over her doll-like face.

Jaune then rubbed his wrist, bringing life back in it as he slowly backed away from Neo. "Just stay away from me," he growled, ignoring the guilt of having thrown her to the ground. "If a guy wants to die then just let him die, don't go using him for just a cheap fuck." Without waiting for a response he sprinted away as fast as he could, leaving the silent criminal behind.

He just wanted it all to end.

Was that too much to ask for?

...

What...just happened?

A minute passed before Neo slowly rose back to her feet, her hand rubbing tenderly against her curvy behind, wincing as she felt what might be a slight bruise. She let the recent events replay in her mind, and a scowl quickly formed.

Great. Just fucking great.

Neo harshly lashed her foot out against a loose piece of concrete in frustration, causing it to launch towards a nearby car. The concrete then crashed through the car's passenger window, causing the whole vehicle to blare out its alarm system. Wincing again, Neo decided to teleport to the roof of a nearby building, where she could recollect in peace.

So none of that went according to plan.

Now, there was hardly anything in the world that could make Neo feel bad. She could kick down an old lady and it wouldn't faze her the slightest bit.

So why did she feel guilty now?

She sighed and brought her knees up to her chin, looking up at Remnant's shattered moon, wondering whether or not she may have pushed things a bit too far. She couldn't help it, the cruel assassin side of her had disappeared for now, simply leaving behind a girl with a unique fashion sense.

Jaune wasn't wrong, whatever the case.

She had been planning on using him for sex.

She didn't think she'd be so mean as to throw him out, though. Not after the coupons Junior had been so willing to give her. No... She did promise to take care of him, and she was planning on keeping her word. The sex was just...an extra bonus. Well, it was _supposed_ to be.

Then Jaune had thrown her to the ground and ran off.

Normally, this action alone would result in the boy's head flying off and landing in a trash can. No one touched Neo like that, no one!

But this was different. Admittedly, Jaune was different. In that moment when he had torn himself away from her, she saw something in his eyes. For a brief moment, she could've sworn she saw all the pain the boy had endured in his lifetime. All the anger, sadness, self-loathing and loss of dignity. She could see why he had tried to put a bullet in his mouth, she could see _everything._

Neo may have been crazy, but she sure as hell wasn't stupid. She knew when someone was practically struggling to find any will to live each and every day.

The girl then felt something wet run down her cheek, and curiously she scooped it up into her index finger to see what it was. She tilted her head a little and narrowed her eyes. A tear?

Had Neo been crying?

Neo scoffed and flicked the tear away. No, she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't some kid's life story bring her to tears, she was an assassin dammit!

It didn't matter how guilty she felt, she shouldn't be letting all of this get in her head. What she needed to concentrate on was finding Jaune before he did something stupid. But how? He had already figured out her reason for saving him (mostly), so she knew he wasn't a complete idiot. He wouldn't just welcome her back in open arms and simply allow her to have her way with him. If anything, he'd only distance himself further if she approached him like she had before. Neo tapped her chin and stood up, pacing the roof as she tried to come up with a solution. She needed a way to gain his trust, make him believe that she wasn't simply keeping him around due to a stupid favor and her personal pleasure.

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. Neo grinned mischievously, patting herself on the back as she did so.

She had seen what he had done with that faunus girl, which let her come to the conclusion that he was a prostitute. At least, maybe a part time prostitute. Which meant that any action the boy got was simply...lifeless. No experience of pleasure, just business. And combine with all the pain she had witnessed in his eyes, and that led her to one conclusion.

He didn't want a fuck buddy, he wanted a _partner._ He wanted something that was meaningful, something more than just lust, something he could be happy with...

Love.

Now, Neo knew hardly anything about actual romance other than some cheap chick flicks and soap operas she had watched before, so she knew this would be tough to pull off. But if she could somehow convince the former knight that she cared about his well being above all else, then maybe he would be more willing to accept her. It would be a painful act to pull off, playing the part of an emotionally invested girlfriend, but she reminded herself that it would all be worth it in the end.

Besides, Junior would certainly be grateful. And maybe then he'd be more willing to give her those delicious coupons.

With her plan in motion, Neo leaped off of the roof and landed gracefully on the sidewalk, startling a young couple who were just passing by.

She would allow herself some emotional connection, just to have her way with Jaune.

She licked her lips in anticipation, sprinting off towards the direction she saw Jaune run off to. 'This may actually be more fun than I thought,' the criminal thought with an adorable giggle.

...

He ran until he was long after running out of breath, collapsing to his hands and knees near as he struggled to breathe. His breaths came out as raspy pants, his throat as dry as Vacuo's hottest desert. But honestly he couldn't care less. All that mattered was that he had gotten away from Neo.

Damn that woman.

Damn her and her stupid lust for him.

Damn Melody for turning him into some dildo.

Damn himself for being so stupid in the first place!

Well, he figured he could at least now do what he had originally intended to do before Neo interrupted him. Reaching into his pocket, he tried to grasp for his revolver, and was greatly confused when he couldn't find it on his person.

Then he frowned. Oh, right.

 _She_ tossed it into the dumpster over at the usual spot.

Jaune figured that he could simply retrace his steps, but decided against it. One, he didn't want to possibly run into Neo again. And two, he wasn't exactly sure where he was. Finally catching his breath, the former Beacon student hauled himself to his feet, observing the area around him to try to get a grasp on his surroundings.

He was across the street from Tukson's Book Trade, and Jaune suddenly remembered how long it has been since he last read one of his comic books.

Jaune frowned as more past memories surfaced, and he desperately tried to shake them from his head. He didn't want to think about that right now, he needed to decide his next move and he needed to decide it fast. He didn't want Neo catching up to him...

He leaned against the wall of a shop and thought for a few minutes. He knew what he wanted to do, but how could he? His revolver was missing, and he couldn't risk going back to look for it, that might be what Neo thinks he will do.

The former knight glanced at Vale's many buildings. Perhaps he could find a building tall enough for a jump to kill him? He quickly dismissed it. No... No doubt _that_ would appear on the news, and with his luck Pyrrha and the others would see it. And he never wanted them to see him like this...

"...Jaune?"

The blonde froze, his breath caught in his throat. No, no it _couldn't_ be!

He slowly turned around, and standing there... Was the normally hyper-energetic girl without a care in the world, now looking like she had been through hell and back with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Her hand was covering her mouth as she slowly looked him up and down in disbelief, as if he were some sort of illusion or trick.

"Is it really you...Jaune?"

Standing before him was Nora Valkyrie.

...

 **Oooooh shit! Jaune's been seen, I REPEAT! Jaune has been seen! Originally it was gonna be Pyrrha, but I wanna save that for another time ;D (hint hint) Then I was thinking Ruby, but I don't want Team RWBY making another appearance until a lot later, so eventually I settled for Nora because why not? Not hinting at any romance, just friendship!**

 **And it looks like Neo has another trick up her sleeve, what could this possibly spell out for our unlucky little hero? Probably shit. Lots and lots of shit. Anyway, I sure do hope all of y'all enjoyed this, because it took me a God awful long time to actually get it done, since my internet kept going out :P**

 **But whatever. Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So I remembered that there was something REALLY important I've been wanting to tell you guys, but then I just decided... Nah. At least, not now. Perhaps later. When later? Who knows... I'm not sure any of you are ready for this explosive piece of information ;D It could possibly change your entire view on life. IT MAY MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN A GOD! OR IT MAY TEAR YOU AWAY FROM SUCH BELIEFS FOREVER!**

 **But whatever.**

 **Anyway, that last chapter's ending was quite the shocker, wasn't it? XD Poor, poor Jauney-boy... Will our hapless hero be able to weasel his way out of this one? Or will he be forced to face... THE HAMMER!**

 **(Gotta love how my author's notes are the exact opposite of the actual story :P)**

 **...**

"Jaune..."

Nora's voice was hoarse, Jaune noticed, almost as if she hadn't used it in so long. It made the boy's heart sink upon seeing his former teammate in this state. 'This isn't like her at all,' he thought. 'Where is happy Nora? The one with the pancake obsession?'

"N-Nora..." He finally managed to finally choke out after a full minute of silence. He somehow found the will to move his legs, and hesitantly began to inch backwards, his breath quickening as he desperately searched his mind for a solution. 'This wasn't supposed to happen,' he gasped inwardly. 'No one from Beacon was supposed to see me... No one!'

Nora noticed her former leader back away from her, and she felt something inside her shatter. "Jaune?" she asked, reaching out towards the former knight. "Jaune... I don't... I don't understand."

"..."

Nora tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Jaune?" the viking woman repeated, cautiously reaching out for him again. "A-Aren't you going to say something..?"

No, no, no! This could not be happening, this could NOT be happening! Jaune continued his retreat, cursing silently when Nora did not let up, slowly inching closer and closer, as if she was unsure if it was really him. 'First Melody, then Neo, and now this?' his inner voice hissed. 'This night can't possibly get any worse!'

'She hates me,' he thought, unable to correctly interpret Nora's facial expression as concern rather than spite. 'I failed as a leader and now she's here to punish me...'

So he did the only thing that his body would allow him to do.

He _ran._

He ran as fast as he could, desperate to escape the presence of his former teammate. His heart pounded against his rib cage, frantically trying to pump blood throughout the boy's body. It had yet to fully recover from its last sprint, and Jaune knew he had to get away fast, or else his heart might just explode.

"Jaune, wait!" Nora cried from behind him. "Don't go! Please, come back!"

His blood ran ice cold when he heard footsteps sprinting after him, quickly closing the large gap he had placed between them. The blonde threw his head over his shoulder to glance at his pursuer. He stopped breathing for a split moment as he saw how fast the ginger was catching up to him. Her legs carrying her as fast and as far as they could go, sweat already forming on her brow as she gave desperate burst of speed after desperate burst of speed, her face wincing in pain as her large breasts bounced wildly with each stride.

 _'Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!'_ The word ran through Jaune's thoughts repeatedly as he quickly began to realize that he had nowhere he could try to lose her, the empty streets seemed to stretch on forever with no end in sight. The Arc had to lose the girl soon, or else he'd have to face the consequences of his foolish actions.

Something he didn't want to do.

Something he _couldn't_ do.

Jaune attempted to give himself one last burst of speed, hoping it could be just enough to escape this ordeal. If he could escape Nora, then all of this would go away, it would _have_ to! Just a little further...

"Stop this, Jaune!"

The young woman's voice startled him due to how close it had sounded. Then, immediately after her words disappeared, he felt the poor girl tackle him to the hard concrete below, causing both to land painfully. Jaune laid flat on his back for a few moments, the air knocked completely out of his lungs. He wheezed heavily as he attempted to stand, but was unfortunately pinned down by the woman he failed to outrun. His eyes locked with hers, and guilt instantly took over his mind. Nora was straddling his stomach, her strong arms effortlessly pinning his to the cold ground below. She was crying, tears cascading down her face and landing on his own.

'Good one, Jaune,' the former knight scolded himself bitterly. 'You just made one of the prettiest girls you know cry. Dick move.'

"J-Jaune..." the viking whispered. "Please...stop running..."

He hesitated, then slowly nodded.

Nora smiled briefly, a twitch on her lips so quick it might as well have not been there. Then, the girl collapsed from exhaustion, sobbing into Jaune's usual black hoodie, murmuring things that he couldn't make out. But Jaune simply laid there and allowed the girl to release all her frustration and sadness, a very noticeable frown carved into his face.

'She hates me.'

...

Finding Jaune... Was not difficult whatsoever. Honestly, the boy was extremely crappy at his escape attempts, he might as well have just stood there for her to scoop up into her arms.

Neo's hand drifted down to rub her bruised rear, slightly grimacing in the aching pain. Okay, so maybe his escape wasn't _complete_ shit...

The criminal made a mental note to 'punish' her new toy for that later.

Due to her teleporting powers, it only took a minute or two to find her target, who was trying to catch his breath across Tukson's Book Trade. Neo almost felt bad for the boy, certain that he wasn't used to running at whatever speed he was going. She sat on the roof right above him, wondering what her approach should be. After all, she had a role to play, and this could possibly be her one chance to get it right. Otherwise, she was sure that Jaune would _never_ trust her.

Well, it wasn't like Neo was ever trustworthy to begin with...

The ice-cream themed villain sighed and twirled her umbrella absentmindedly. She gently chewed the inside of her bottom lip, trying to come up with what exact words she should use to convince him to stay with her. 'Okay, Neo,' she coached herself mentally. 'You've always been one for improv, just think to all those romance shows you watched and wing it!'

She licked her lips as her mind drifted off to the memory of Jaune's bulge from earlier that night. The criminal shivered, already feeling the area between her thighs dampen slightly. Yes... Jaune would be able to satisfy her, she was sure of it. The small woman smirked as she rubbed her thighs together in anticipation. She didn't need anyone else if Jaune did his job well... Not Roman, not his stupid goons, not any of those primal jerks from the White Fang...

Her hand slid down her lithe body until it made contact with her nether region. She let her slim fingers gently massage her folds through her pants, eyes fogging over as she gave a silent gasp.

...only for the moment to be ruined when Neo heard someone call out to her soon-to-be lover. Curious, the small criminal poked her head from her hiding spot, seeing a rather...interesting situation. There was a strange girl she was not familiar with, looking like she was on the verge of tears as she stared at Jaune. In comparison, Jaune looked absolutely horrified at the arrival of this stranger. This caused Neo to raise an eyebrow, as she wondered what the relationship between these two were.

Siblings? Friends? Former lovers?

Neo would be lying if she said she didn't feel slight jealousy at the mention of the third option...

"N-Nora..." Jaune had breathed, the pain and sorrow evident in his voice.

Now _this_ sparked major interest for Neo. Was this...Nora person the reason for his attempted suicide, or at the very least one of them? Jaune certainly didn't seem happy by her appearance, after all...

Neo then remembered the pain she had seen in Jaune right before he escaped from her, and she shook her head to clear it. The boy was obviously close to being broken, if he wasn't already. And if this girl was the source of his problems, then Neo would've been _glad_ to get rid of her.

After all, a broken toy was not fun to play with.

She was torn from her thoughts as she suddenly witnessed the blonde break away in another sprint, Nora right at his heels. Neo huffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance, before teleporting after them.

The chase did not last long at all, Jaune's fatigue quickly allowing Nora to tackle him to the ground. Neo winced, obviously the landing didn't look painless. But her cringe was immediately replaced by her signature cat-grin. 'Karma, bitch,' she taunted silently.

Eventually, the bimbo crawled off of Jaune (much to Neo's gratitude) and helped the former knight to his feet. The two of them then leaned against the side of a building, and Neo quickly teleported to the shadows besides them, eager to learn what the whole situation was about. After all, some insight on Jaune's tragic past might help her perfect her act further.

"...turns out Blake was a faunus and a former White fang member," Nora was explaining when Neo was withing earshot. "She has two cat ears...they're actually really cute." She let out a hollow laugh. "Not as cute as pancakes, of course."

Blake...Blake... Neo tilted her head in thought. Wasn't that the chick who Roman was complaining about the other day? The one who nearly ruined his operation? Shrugging these thoughts away, Neo instead chose to continue listening.

"Where have you been, Jaune?" Nora asked, sliding her knees up to her chin. "It's been a month since we last saw you, we're all worried about you."

"..." Jaune was silent for a few minutes, before he sighed. "Nora..." he began, already trailing off. Another minute passed before he started speaking again. "I messed up," he confessed. "I messed up big time. And I'm too ashamed to show my face to you guys, I don't want you seeing the shit I've become..."

"You're not shit," Nora protested. "Jaune, we couldn't care less about any of that, we just our friend, our _leader_ to come back to us."

'Leader?' Neo repeated. 'What does she mean, leader?'

Jaune scoffed, shaking his head in argument. "You guys are better off without me," he muttered. "I'm just a failure, I don't belong in Beacon or Team JNPR..."

Did he just say Beacon?! If Neo had a drink, she probably would've spat it out, spraying it everywhere. So Jaune... Was not only from Beacon, but he was a team leader as well?

Neo frowned and glanced away from the scene. 'It must have been one shitty road to end up how he is now,' she thought, suddenly feeling a bit bad for the blonde. 'What could've happened to him?'

"That's not true!" Nora had leaped to her feet, seeming unable to believe the words that popped out of her leader's mouth. "We need you, Jaune! Ren needs you, I need you, _Pyrrha_ needs you!"

The emphasis on the last girl's named displeased Neo as she secretly added another name to her hit list.

"Are you willing to just throw all of that away?"

Both Neo and Jaune perked their heads up at the viking's question. Neo stared at Jaune with slightly wide eyes, curious about what his answer would be.

The blonde scowled at his friend, then scoffed and shook his head. "It was never my decision to make," he reminded her.

"You could've at least _called!_ " Nora countered, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at the boy beneath her. "Dammit, Jaune! Just stop this! Whatever it is, just STOP IT!"

Neo nearly choked as Jaune sprang up to his feet, anger practically _erupting_ out of his body. Neo shrank back further into the shadows, almost feeling fear as she watched her toy break even more than he already was before.

"Stop this?" He hissed, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. "Nora, if I could stop this I would've done it a long fucking time ago! But y'know what? _I fucking can't!"_ Nora took a step back, more tears forming as her hand covered her mouth. Her eyes begged Jaune to stop yelling, but he continued. "I may not like it, but this is my fucking life, Nora! I'm sorry I can't be your stupid shining knight in armor like this is a fucking fairy tale!" He leaned in close, their noses only an inch apart.

 _"So grow up and leave me alone,"_ he growled, his words being forced from what Neo could here. "This isn't a fairy tale, this is real life. And life. Fucking. Sucks."

"..." Nora didn't speak a word, she only nodded and slowly began to back away. She was sobbing now, the poor girl, her whole body shook in both rage and anguish. Wordlessly, she turned around and began the sorrowful trek back to Beacon. But then to both Neo and Jaune's surprise, she turned around to face the boy once more.

"You're not Jaune," she accused, her voice barely audible. "The Jaune I knew would never give up. He was a brave and caring leader, someone we all loved with all our hearts. But..." She turned away, her hands clutching the end of her skirt. "But now...I can't even look at you..." And then, just like that... She walked away.

Neo waited a few minutes before she emerged from the shadows, typing a message into her scroll before showing it to Jaune, who was kneeling on his knees, his head bowed in shame,

 **I think you went too far, Jaune.** That text wasn't an act, Neo truly believed what she said. Jaune _had_ gone too far, and Neo almost reconsidered playing him... After what she had just witnessed and all...

Almost.

For once, the former knight didn't seem angered by her presence, he only nodded his head. "You're right," he mumbled, before collapsing onto his back. "I fucked up big time, Nora was right... She may not look like it but she's the smartest people-wise."

It took Neo a minute to type out her next message. This was it, she decided. She was going to make her move. Once satisfied, the young criminal showed her text to the depressed boy.

 **I'm so sorry, Jaune. I had no idea you went through all that.**

Jaune simply shrugged. "I deserved it," he admitted. "I didn't belong in Beacon, anyway."

He caught sight of Neo tilting her head. "I faked my transcripts," he explained. "I didn't earn my place there like everyone else, I cheated my way in. Eventually I got caught, and have been living in the slums ever since."

 **It must have been rough. Is there anything I can do?** Oh God, she hoped she didn't seem too forward...

"What do you care?" Jaune questioned, his voice suddenly growing dark. "All you care about is getting in my pants. You don't care whether I die or not as long as you get your fun."

Despite the truth in those words, Neo still visibly flinched, unfamiliar guilt once again creeping onto her. She shook her head and spent a minute or two carefully typing her next message.

 **Jaune, that was me being stupid. I wasn't thinking straight, trust me. The truth is that I do want to help you, no one should ever have to go through what you did. So please, all I want to do is help you. I...** She hesitated. Was it too soon? Neo scowled, realizing that this 'emotionally invested' gig would be a lot harder to pull off than she originally thought. **I care about you.** There, she finished the message.

Jaune looked rather unconvinced, raising an almost insulted eyebrow. "You think I'm an idiot?" he scoffed. "It takes a lot more than a simple text to earn my trust." He finally stood up and began to walk towards the direction he came from. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go finish what I started. _Without_ anyone to bother me this time."

Shit, shit, shit! Her chance was slipping away! Neo rarely panicked, her calm and taunting composure was what made her feared in the first place. But God be damned before she let something she wanted slip away that easily!

Without much thought, Neo rushed towards the blonde, throwing her arms around him and pulling him to the most comforting hug she could manage, throwing the boy off guard. She buried her face into his chest, and she gently began to bob her shoulders to give off the illusion that she was crying. If there was one thing she could say she knew about Jaune, it was that he seemed like the kind of guy that could never turn down a crying girl.

"N-Neo..!" Jaune breathed, eyes wide and mouth agape. "W-what..?"

Neo quickly typed a message into her scroll, pulling away in order to show it to him.

 **Let's go home, Jaune.**

"What?" Jaune furrowed his eyebrows and glanced up at Neo, and the confused look on his face changed to one of slight shock and sympathy. "Neo, you're..."

 **You won't be homeless anymore.** She interrupted whatever he was about say with another message. **I'll give you a place to stay, to get back up on your feet. You won't have to turn to sex for a living anymore, I can help you find a real job. So let me help you, Jaune.**

She smirked in the back of her head as she saw him consider the idea. 'Perfect,' she cackled. 'I knew that would sell him.' It's not like Neo _minded_ helping the guy out, as long as she got what she wanted in the end.

"I..uh..." Jaune stammered and looked around nervously, avoiding Neo's gaze. "Neo, thank you, but... I don't know what to say...are you sure?"

Neo nodded happily. 'So gullible.'

A few minutes of silence followed, but eventually Jaune answered with a hesitant nod. Neo had a celebration party going on in the back of her head, and she resisted the urge to burst out laughing. Giving him another gentle expression, the gentlest she could manage, she took his hand and began to lead him back to her place, unaware of what Jaune had tried to point out to her a few minutes ago.

"Neo..." Jaune whispered the remainder of his sentence, quiet enough so the girl couldn't hear. "You were...crying."

...

 **Good lord I'm finally done! Whew! So what did all of you guys think? I hope I wrote this chapter well, because this marks the end of the first arc, AKA "The Meeting". But poor Nora, though :( Seriously, Jaune, way to be a dick. And I'm sorry for all of those who might not be enjoyed how the characters act, but... C'mon, they're teenagers XD I'm a teenager, so I know first hand just how fucking STUPID we are at handling emotions. But now that the first arc is over, I really look forward to showing you guys how this relationship will eventually evolve :D I'm pretty sure you'll like it~**

 **Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Y'know, this story actually went through a lot of different versions before it was actually ever published. Hell, most of the original plan didn't even have any mention of Neo :P See, the original was supposed to be a simple, comical bromance story between Jaune and Cardin. When I finally decided I wanted Neo to play a part, it just got a whole lot more difficult XD The plot ideas went everywhere from road trips to medieval rebellions to a fucking Kingdom Hearts crossover (which I wouldn't mind writing someday... What do you think?).**

 **So yeah, eventually I just decided to go through the really depressing route because... Why the hell not? And just based on all the reception this story has gotten, obviously that was the right move on my part :D Seriously, THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING THIS MY MOST VIEWED/FAVORITED/FOLLOWED STORY IN MY ENTIRE FANFICTION CAREER! I won't let you down ;-; I swear!**

 **But that's enough of my rambling, enjoy the chapter, everyone! I tried putting some form of comedy in there to even out all the angst and shit that I've been throwing at you :'D But don't worry, angst and sadness is still gonna be present _everywhere..._**

 **...**

The trip back to Beacon was longer than she remembered. Or at least, that's what it felt like.

Nora Valkyrie wordlessly sat at the back of the bullhead flying back towards the elite hunter's school, her knees pulled up to her chin with her head buried in her arms. Her shoulders shook, and she thanked whatever deity was above that no one was around to witness her weeping like this. After all, she was _Nora Valkyrie,_ the hyperactive and fun-loving member of Team JNPR. Everyone expected her to be nothing but pancakes and sunshine, to never have a single worry in the world.

But could she just be allowed to cry? At least this one time?

The past month and a half, Nora's usual cheerfulness became less real, it became more and more of a mask. She missed Jaune. He was the first person other than Ren to truly accept her for herself. He was her first friend outside the quiet oriental, and she couldn't thank him enough for giving her a chance. Jaune Arc was truly something special, something the whole team cherished. He was a brilliant leader who could call shots on the fly, and a caring friend who always put others before himself. He was the brother Ren never had, the love of Pyrrha's life, and the friend Nora always wanted.

Nora couldn't possibly describe the joy she felt when she saw Jaune walking down the streets of Vale right in front of her. After a month and a half without a single word from the guy, here he was in the city just below the academy. She should have been mad, she should have yelled and screamed at him for just disappearing and abandoning his friends. But she couldn't.

She could never do that. Not to Jaune.

But all that happiness that had returned after a month long absence shattered in an instant when she saw what the former knight had become. A mere shell of his former self, a man without a care for those who loved him, a man who just looked like he wanted to die. It was heartbreaking to witness, she couldn't believe that this was the same awkward boy she admired back at Beacon.

So she _ran._

She hated herself for it, every cell in her body begging her to go back and find him again. Maybe if she talked to him some more, he would once again become the boy she knew.

But even Nora knew that was simply wishful thinking.

The Jaune Arc she knew was gone. He truly had disappeared the day he was expelled. This new Jaune... He was a stranger.

She broke out of her train of thought as the bullhead landed in front of Beacon, and Nora began the depressing walk back to Team JNPR-no... NPR's dorm. The viking girl bit her lip as she navigated herself through the school's various hallways, debating whether or not she should tell her team what had happened that night. They would be thrilled, right? Nora shook her head. No... They didn't deserve to see how low Jaune has become. No one should know that. Ren, Pyrrha, and Team RWBY would be much better off simply believing that Jaune had forgotten about them to live a simple and happy life.

Nora would take this to the grave. And if anyone else saw him, she'd deny everything. She never saw Jaune Arc down by Tukson's Book Trade. And hopefully no one else would too.

Eventually the hammer-wielding huntress reached her team's dorm, and was hesitant to open it. She gave herself a minute to put her mask back on, wiping away any stray tears and using her scroll as a mirror to practice her smile. She tried thinking about as many fun and innocent things as she could, hoping that her turquoise eyes would regain that similar spark of mischief they were known to have.

The spark never came.

Sighing in defeat, Nora let her act drop and dragged her feet into the room, no longer caring if someone saw her. To her pleasant surprise, however, the dorm appeared to be empty. She briefly wondered where Ren and Pyrrha had disappeared to, but she shrugged it off and slowly changed into her pajamas. After she slid on her 'Boop' shirt, the viking suddenly realized how tired she was. Letting out loud yawn, she crawled into her bed and yanked the covers over her head. Hopefully tomorrow would bring a brighter day. Hopefully...

As Nora finally allowed herself to drift off into slumber, her last thoughts were plagued by images and memories of that stranger she ran away from down in the streets of Vale.

...

When Jaune Arc awoke, it took him a minute to remember everything. Last night, everything shitty that could happen...happened. He was once again forced to eat out that horrid siren Melody, he nearly committed suicide with a pistol powerful enough to break through aura, he had his run in with Nora, and Neo...

Jaune bit his lip then sighed. _Neo._ He still had no idea what he should think of the mute girl, she was a mystery beyond his understanding. First she tried seducing him, and now she's trying to help him pick his life up once more. He glanced around Neo's apartment, taking in the sight. Well, one wasn't sure if it could be labeled as an 'apartment', as the residence was located inside what he assumed was an abandoned warehouse. But still, it had normal apartment things like bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room... Speaking of the living room, that was where he had fallen asleep. Neo only had one bedroom, and despite her offer of them sleeping together Jaune had decided he could simply crash on the couch.

He sighed at the memory, shaking his head a little. It seemed that even if Neo truly did want to help him, she was going to be wanting some stuff in return.

'Well, tough luck,' Jaune thought, having already decided he wouldn't succumb to whatever advances the short woman threw at him. He was here to get back on his feet, nothing more, nothing less.

After all, Jaune Arc liked to believe he wasn't a _complete_ idiot. When you lived in the slums, when you were always fighting for survival, you couldn't afford to be an idiot.

Jaune slowly sat up, stretching as sunlight from the warehouse window basked over him. Jaune couldn't help but smile, surprising himself. 'Almost forgot how good the sun feels,' he thought. Having hid in the shadows of alleys and bars for a month and a half, the sun truly did feel wonderful this morning.

The moment was quickly ruined when he felt something between his legs stand up in attention, making the boy groan in annoyance. Great...morning wood. A man's first problem of the day. Throwing the blanket off of him, he was prepared to deal with the problem until...

"Neo what the hell are you doing?!" Jaune practically screeched when he saw Neo between his legs, her teasing smirk towards him as her hands grasped his erection.

Neo didn't answer, instead she held up some measuring tape, pointing at it, then back at his dick, the smirk on her face growing larger. When Jaune finally understood what she was referring to, he blushed heavily and began stuttering in protest, grabbing his blanket and using it to cover himself up. He glared daggers at Neo, who bore an innocent look on her face as she typed something into her scroll. She looked over it with a satisfied hum, before showing it to the embarrassed former knight.

 **Six inches. Definitely not the biggest I've seen, but nothing to be ashamed of in the slightest ;)**

Jaune narrowed his eyes but said nothing, instead pulling up his boxers and jeans before walking towards the kitchen, leaving the mute girl behind.

Neo winced at his wordless departure, suddenly remembering the act she had to put up. She sighed and silently scolded herself for acting stupid, before leaning back and wondering how to make up for this. She scowled and smacked her palm against her forehead.

Playing the emotional role was already proving to be difficult, and it had only been less than a day! Neo wondered if she could find some tips online, because TV shows could only get a girl so far before she had to find advice elsewhere. Neo thought about the night before, wondering if there was anything from then that she could maybe use to start up something.

Hmm... Neo grinned her cat-like grin. Maybe _that_ would work. Typing a quick message into her scroll, she took a minute to put on the expression of a curious, innocent girl like the ones from her shows. Making her way towards the kitchen, she tapped Jaune's shoulder as he made himself a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's. The blonde turned around, the look on his face making it clear that he wasn't in the mood for her right now. Neo winced again, whether it was real or acting she wasn't sure, before holding up the scroll for him to read.

 **What was Beacon like?**

A sensitive subject, and possibly a risky one for Neo to bring up. But the mute knew that if this plan was ever going to work, she'd have to touch upon it sooner or later. Jaune had to be led to believe she cared for him in... _That_ way, after all.

She was relieved when the hardened gaze of Jaune softened, and he briefly looked away, as if debating whether or not he should actually tell her. Neo took this chance to sit down next to him, giving a gentle smile in hope that he would take it as a sign of trust and comfort. Jaune took a glance at her, his cheeks turning a faint pink as he saw her smile. 'Perfect,' Neo mentally cackled.

"It was...nice." Jaune finally muttered, scratching his cheek awkwardly.

Neo blinked, then waved her hand in a motion that asked him to continue.

Jaune sighed and glanced up towards the ceiling. "Neo..." he began, biting his lip. "It's not something I want to talk about, not after what happened with Nora last night." He hesitated before continuing. "That, and...well... I don't really know you that well, so I don't think I can give you any personal information until I'm more comfortable around you. No offense."

Neo pouted, but nodded in understanding. It made sense, and was actually a smart move on his part. Neo sighed and folded her arms across her chest, realizing that this act would have to go on much longer than she originally anticipated.

 **I understand.** She typed into her scroll. **Let's have it go like this. As time goes on we both start telling each other more about ourselves. A 'secret' for a 'secret'.**

Neo wasn't exactly looking forward to her part of the deal, but she was going to have to just put up with it if she wanted Jaune for herself.

The former knight was silent for a few moments, before he shrugged in reply. "Maybe." he murmured.

Neo was about to type another message into her scroll, before she heard someone storm into her living quarters, and a familiar voice rang through the air.

"Neo!" the voice barked. "I'm still very pissed at you for bailing on me last night, so you better have a damn good excuse!"

'Shit...' Neo cursed as Roman Torchwick entered the kitchen, his dangerous eyes scanning over the scene before they settled onto Jaune, narrowing as his face contorted into a snarl.

'Double shit!' cursed Jaune and Neo at the same time.

...

As this happened, Nora had just woken up, a smile on her face. It felt strange for her, as it was the first real smile in a long time. She glanced over at her teammates, who were still asleep, having come back exhausted last night from a brutal spar. Nora bit her lips, then nodded slowly. When they woke up, she'd gather Team RWBY, and she'd tell everyone what happened last night.

This decision came to her due to the dream she had.

 _"Wow, giving up on me that easily?" Jaune laughed as he booped Nora's nose. "C'mon, Nora, that's not like you!"_

 _"But-" Nora tried protesting, but Jaune cut her off._

 _"Listen, that guy you met is still me, even if he seems like a stranger." he explained. He smiled gently, pulling the girl into a warm and tender hug. "After all..."_

Nora grinned and stood up, opening the room's window and inhaling the morning air.

 _"...a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet."_

...

 **I wanted to AT LEAST ONCE end a chapter on a happy note instead of the usual depressing cliffhangers XD Yeah, this chapter was shorter and more lighthearted than usual, but it's just my way of reminding you that there's a rainbow around every corner. Or however that stupid saying goes... Anyway! This chapter also kicks off a new "arc" in the story, one that will give a bigger spotlight to RWBY and JNPR, as well as continued development for Jaune and Neo's "relationship". This arc is gonna have what I _hope_ to be a more balanced mix of emotions, from happy and comical to feels and heartbreak. Hope you guys are ready for THAT roller coaster!**

 **Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, writing has suddenly become much harder... This will be my second (or is it third?) attempt at writing this due to the internet constantly pulling a troll on me -_- That, and updates will probably be slower than usual, since I'll be starting my junior year at high school very soon. But on the lighter side... Thanks a whole bunch for giving this story so much love and support, you guys! You people are seriously the nicest people I've met so far in my fanfiction career! Just wanted to let you all know that! :D Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter (because it's a huge fucking pain in my ass and I'm one step closer to literally tearing out someone's worthless throat right now :3)**

 **...**

Now, if Jaune Arc was still attending Beacon, he would probably be more confused than scared in regards to the stylish ginger man standing in front of him, clutching a menacing looking cane in his gloved hand. But, when living in the slums of Vale, one was quick to learn who the big shots in the criminal industry were. And Roman Torchwick was at the very top, sitting on a throne made up of deceit, loot, and blood.

So yes, Jaune knew _exactly_ who he was dealing with.

Roman was certainly scarier in person than he was in any wanted poster or mugshot, an aura of disgust radiating off of him as his eyes locked onto the former knight. If looks could kill, Jaune was certain he would've been burned alive by a mere passing glance. He audibly gulped, earning a sigh and scoff from the criminal. Then Roman slowly turned his attention to Neo, who rigidly stood next to Jaune in her usual silence.

"Neo," the master thief began, feigning a friendly smile that barely hid his anger and annoyance. "Would you please explain to me what a little _snot nosed punk_ is doing in _our_ kitchen?!"

Jaune could almost hear Neo curse as she appeared to be searching for an acceptable answer. It was then that Roman's words finally processed fully through the blonde's mind, and his eyes widened a...considerable amount. "Wait..." He whispered, tilting his head towards the small girl next to him. "What does he mean by 'our'?"

Neo's pink and brown eyes shifted between the two men, and she mentally kicked herself for allowing such a slip up to happen. She hadn't even _considered_ the possibility of Roman's arrival, even though the warehouse was technically his home too. She bit her lip, swiftly digging into each file in her brain to use for an answer.

"Well, Neo?" Roman asked, folding his arms across his chest. "You better hurry up and answer..." And suddenly, the criminal lunged, his movements almost as fast as Red's semblance. A yelp of both surprise and fright came from Jaune as Roman pinned him against the wall, his cane-gun's barrel being jammed into his gut. "...unless you want your little toy here to help decorate the walls," he finished, licking his lips as he gazed over the warehouse. "I always did hate this color, anyway..."

Jaune opened his mouth to protest, but no sound came out. His face was just one of mute terror, his frightened blue eyes turning to Neo, who was now busy typing something into her scroll.

'Neo...' he thought, gasping as the cane was pushed further against him. 'How the hell are you involved with this guy?'

Neo's fingers frantically moved across the screen of her scroll, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she carefully chose her words. Despite their partnership, she knew Roman would kill Jaune in a heartbeat, even if Neo claimed to know him. No... She wasn't gonna lose Jaune, not after all the bullshit she had to put up with! 'This is a toy I plan on keeping,' she told herself as she finished the last of her message. Her eyes skimmed over it, mouthing words to herself as she did so.

She wasn't going to let Jaune die today. Not after her promise to Junior, as well as her own plans for the boy.

She _needed_ him, _wanted_ him.

All for pleasure, of course...

After reading over the message again, the multi-colored assassin hummed in satisfaction, pressing her thumb against the 'send' button. Now all she could do was hold her breath and hope that her message would be enough to spare the former huntsman-in-training. She heard the soft _ding_ from Roman's coat pocket, and both her and Jaune watched closely as the master thief slowly pulled out his scroll, his eyes carefully scanning over Neo's text.

 **He's just a kid who ended up on the wrong side of the tracks, Roman.** Neo had typed. **Trust me, he's harmless and is in no way a threat to our operation. Junior was worried about him, so I promised I'd take care of the kid for him.** Another text popped up as Neo quickly added, **I don't think he'd be very willing to associate with you if you hurt the kid, Roman.**

Roman frowned as he finished reading, and he reluctantly let Jaune drop to the floor, who gasped for breath as he realized he was safe.

As much as Roman really wasn't liking this kid, Neo did bring up a valid point. Although they never seen eye to eye, Junior's drinks were to die for, and that was something Roman did not plan on letting go of anytime soon.

Neo sighed in relief and walked over to help Jaune to his feet. "T-Thanks..." Jaune mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

Neo noticed his seeming reluctance, and frowned. Great, now he was probably gonna ask a million questions. Neo wasn't planning on telling him of her...line of work, but she realized she should have seen it coming sooner or later.

In some sort of effort to try to convince him she was trustworthy, the ice cream girl wrapped her arms around him in a hug, gazing up at his face with what she _hoped_ was an adorable expression. It seemed to do the trick, as Jaune immediately began blushing and awkwardly hugged her back, looking away once more.

"Oh my God, I'm going to be sick," Roman remarked with a huff, causing the two younger people to break apart. "Neo, you and I need to have a little chat, right now."

Neo reluctantly pulled away from Jaune, much to her surprise. For someone who looked so dorky, she could feel his hard, lean muscles beneath his shirt. It gave off...some sort of protective feel, one Neo wouldn't mind seeing again.

 **I'll explain everything later, Jaune.** She typed, showing it to the blonde. **Just stay here and please don't freak out. I meant it when I said I wanted to help you.**

Jaune read the message and reluctantly nodded, cautiously sitting back down to remake his bowl of cereal as Neo followed Roman out to the entrance of the warehouse.

"So is this the reason you ditched me last night?" he asked, gesturing his cane towards the housing area of the warehouse. "For just some kid? Dammit, Neo, I was almost arrested last night!"

 **It's your own fault.** Neo countered with a smug grin. **Cinder said we were moving on to phase two but you just had to be the little thief, didn't you?**

Roman scowled. "Shut up," he grumbled. "So what are we gonna do about the kid? You said he's not a risk to our operation but can you be so sure? It's risky letting some brat into our hideout, Neo! Surely _you_ would have _some_ common sense!"

Neo licked her lips slyly before answered. **A promise is a promise, it's not like I had anywhere else he could stay.** A mischievous glint flashed in her pink and brown eyes as they switched colors. **And besides, it's been awhile since I've had a new toy for the bedroom.**

Roman's expression was unreadable. "What, and I'm not good enough?" he deadpanned.

 **You don't even come close to my standards.**

"Why you little-" Roman froze and sighed in frustration as he realized he was just being baited into another one of Neo's teases. The woman was going to be the death of him, he somehow just knew it. "Look, here's the real reason I needed to talk to you," he started, waving his cane around. "See, The White Fang is going to pay a little visit and I need to be the host of tonight."

 **And?** Neo didn't look the slightest bit interested.

"Tonight we're unveiling our newest weapons," the criminal continued. "The Atlesian Paladins. But ever since that run in with the two faunus, I keep having this nasty little feeling in my stomach. I think they might try to sneak in, so I need you to be on the lookout for them during the assembly."

Neo tapped her chin and looked up as if she was lost in thought, before promptly shaking her head no.

Roman lost his cool attitude for a moment, sputtering in surprise. "W-What the hell do you mean, no?" he demanded, jabbing his cane in his partner's direction.

 **I wanted to spend some time with Jaune tonight.** Neo explained with a surprisingly happy grin. 'I wonder if I can get any action...' her dirty mind thought.

"Who cares about that?" Roman hissed. "The kid can just stay on the couch while you help me!"

 **Nope.**

Roman groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do I put up with you?" he questioned, before straightening himself. He pulled out a cigar and stuck it in his mouth, lighting it with a flick of his lighter and sighing contently as the tobacco filled his lungs. "Very well," he said. "If you don't want to help then that's fine. Just know that I won't be paying you in Neapolitan ice cream for the next month if that's your choice." He grinned evilly, knowing there was no way Neo could refuse.

To his surprise, however, Neo simply laughed and shook her head. She then reached under her shirt and bra and pulled out the coupons Junior had given her in exchange for Jaune's well being. She tauntingly waved them in front of Roman's face, sticking her tongue out before stuffing the small scraps of paper back into her bra. Then, she simply bowed to her partner before teleporting away, leaving Roman to start a string of curses.

She then reappeared back in the kitchen, where she saw Jaune washing the dishes. Smiling, Neo reminded herself to thank him for that later. She approached the boy and tapped on his shoulder, and the former knight yelped once more and whipped around, sighing in relief when he saw it was just Neo.

"You startled me," he said.

Neo simply shrugged in response.

Jaune then sat down at the kitchen table, gesturing for Neo to sit next to him. When she did, Jaune's face turned serious. "Neo," he began. "You should know that I still don't fully trust you, I don't appreciate the sexual harassment I got from you when I woke up."

Neo winced, this time it wasn't fake. She rubbed her arm awkwardly. Yeah...she had forgotten about that. She mouthed 'sorry', but Jaune either didn't notice or didn't bother to say anything about it. "And now I find out I'm being housed by criminals?" He shook his head. "y'know, it would've been great to know that _before_ I was dragged here!"

 **Welcome to Vale, Jaune.** Neo's text was shoved in his face, like usual. **Yeah, I'm a criminal and so is Roman. So what?** The girl knew that each text was a game of risk, as she was still in the early stages of the learning process. She could only hope her words wouldn't offend the boy she sought. **When things get rough in the slums, you have to do whatever it takes to survive. You'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you, Jaune?**

"..." He was silent for a moment, before he nodded. "Yeah," he muttered. "I do..."

 **I meant what I said about helping you, Jaune.** Neo continued with another message. **You've had it rougher than anyone, you deserve some good in your life. And...I want to be that good.**

She looked over her text with a faint blush, wondering if the final sentence was too much. Slowly, hesitantly, she showed it to Jaune, who after reading it had his cheeks in a similar rosy color.

"Well, uh...I..." he stammered, suddenly finding an interest for the mustard stain on his jeans.

Despite her own embarrassment, Neo couldn't help but grin impishly. 'He gets embarrassed at any mention of affection,' she noted. 'I'll remember that, no doubt it'll be useful.'

That strange pang of guilt hit her chest again, but she did her best to ignore it.

She snapped her fingers to get the former knight's attention, and she quickly typed a message for him to read.

 **Hey, so I have the day off today. If you want we can spend some time together in town, get to know each other some more. Maybe have some drinks at Junior's, maybe play at the arcade, maybe try finding you a job? Sounds good?**

To Neo it was the perfect plan. Not only would she be fulfilling her promise to Junior, but she would actually gain Jaune's trust. If he could see her as a _normal_ girl, he might be more...willing.

"Is that a date?" Jaune nervously, yet bluntly, wondered out loud.

Now it was Neo's turn to sputter. Her eyes widened at the word the blonde just used. _Date?!_ She almost couldn't believe the idiot even said that! Granted, she guessed that it kind of was, with how it tied into her plans... But still!

Neo suddenly remembered that she never went on an actual...date...before. She would just mostly bring people home and kick them out the next day. She really only kept Jaune around because of her promise to Junior...

...right?

"Neo?" Jaune's voice suddenly snapped her back to reality, and she hesitantly typed something onto her scroll, before showing it to the blonde.

 **What do you think?**

"Um...I don't know?" he answered uncertainly, not sure what he was supposed to be thinking or feeling right now. "Uh... But no matter, I guess it won't hurt to hang out..."

Neo nodded eagerly, brushing aside her embarrassment in order to prepare herself. 'It's only a mission,' she told herself. 'Just a mission to gain his trust, that's all.'

With that thought in mind, she grabbed a hold of Jaune's hand, quickly teleporting them to the outside of the warehouse.

...

"So, Nora, what is it you wanted to tell us?" Pyrrha asked, sitting on her bed as she watched Nora bounce on her own. The girl had woken them up only a short while ago, saying she had something _super_ important to tell them.

"I'm glad you asked, Pyrrha!" Nora exclaimed as she stopped bouncing, landing on the lap of Ren. The boy groaned in pain while Pyrrha couldn't help but smile. It has been a long time since she's seen the viking girl so energetic. It was almost like when Jaune was-

Pyrrha looked down and clutched her knees. 'Jaune,' she thought sadly. 'Why did you disappear like that?'

"Last night, while you and Ren were out training, I was taking a little stroll down Vale," Nora explained, sliding off of Ren. "And...I met someone there."

Ren raised an eyebrow?" "And this is important, why?" He questioned, figuring Nora may just be exaggerating as usual.

"Because..." Nora's cheer disappeared suddenly, and she was back to her recently quiet self. "Because..." She glanced at Pyrrha, who was looking at her expectantly, giving her a comforting smile.

'Can I really tell her?' Nora wondered as she wiped away a stray tear. 'I...I have to. I have to get Jaune back for her, for all of us!'

Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and stared right back at Pyrrha with a determined expression. "Because that person was Jaune," she said without pause.

Silence.

'Oh crap I screwed u-'

"WHAT?!" Pyrrha screeched, leaping to her feet as she gripped Nora's shoulders. "You did?! Tell me _everything!_ " She shook Nora like a rag doll, and it was Ren who stopped her.

"Pyrrha, give her space," he ordered calmly, placing a hand on the spartan girl's shoulder. While he appeared calm, in reality Ren was freaking out on the inside. 'Jaune's back, now?!' he thought, excitement and anxiety bubbling up inside him at the thought of seeing his leader once again. Despite him taking over as JNPR's leader in Jaune's absence, the ninja still considered the knight as the true leader, and would always consider him as such. It just wasn't Team JNPR without him.

"How is he?" Pyrrha asked, stepping away from Nora. "Did he tell you why he never called or visited? Is he keeping up with his training? Is he eating his vegetables? Is he still single?" A dozen questions shot out of the red head's mouth, but she couldn't help it. Jaune was back, and that's all that mattered! Maybe...maybe now she could have a chance...

However, the look on Nora's face seemed to tell a different story, as she couldn't look her in the eyes, and she was twiddling her thumbs awkwardly. Pyrrha noticed more tears forming in Nora's beautiful turquoise eyes, and she couldn't help but tear up as well. "Nora...?"

Nora had realized it was a lot harder to tell them the truth than she thought. Could she really tell them what Jaune had become? Could she look Pyrrha in the eyes and tell her that Jaune no longer cared about them? 'I...I can't...'

She glanced up when Ren placed a hand on her shoulder, and he gave her a silent nod of encouragement. Oh, Ren... Nora smiled faintly. She'd be lost without that boy...

Turning back to Pyrrha, the viking girl took a deep breath, letting it last a few moments longer than normal. "Guys..." she began. "I met Jaune last night, but... He isn't the same Jaune we know anymore."

...

 **And that's a wrap! God it's fucking three in the morning, I'm so tired... Ugh, definitely not looking forward to adjusting back to a normal sleep routine for school... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Personally I think it's my least favorite next to the first one, but some might disagree. At least I got it out finally, right? Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **Also, would you guys read it if I made a RWBY OC story? Would you guys read it if I made a RWBY x Kingdom Hearts crossover? THESE ARE QUESTIONS I NEED ANSWERED, GODDAMMIT! XD**


	8. Chapter 8

**Mmmm... Ahhh... I love the smell of hate reviews, my word they might even be God's gift to humanity. Oh, sorry XD I've just been getting some notifications about some guest reviewers getting** ** _really_** **ticked that I made Jaune a "whore". So, what did I do? I laughed and gave a thumbs up :D But I guess they deserve an explanation for why I went the route I did.**

 ***ahem* Alright, so...**

 **I'm a WRITER, guys. It is literally in the job description to put your characters through hell and back XD To make them suffer the darkest of evils, only to rise from the ashes like a fucking PHOENIX! Or have them stay in the darkness to wither away and rot :3 That's always a joy, too. #TeamFuckingFeels**

 **Is Neo the angel? Or is she the demon? Only time will tell, and it starts... NOW!**

 **...**

When Nora had kicked down the door of Team RWBY, the four color coded girls really shouldn't have been surprised. After all, this was _Nora_ that kicked the door down, it's not like the pancake obsessed ginger ever had the decency to knock. But alas, all four members jumped up with various yelps of fright, glaring daggers at the viking. Nora didn't react to their glares, instead flopping herself down on Weiss's bunk, despite the heiress's protests. The remaining members of Team JNPR entered more calmly, nodding in greeting before turning back to their teammate.

"Nora," Ren scolded.

Nora chuckled and shrugged. "Sorry, Ren," she apologized, hopping off Weiss's bed. "Sorry, Ice Queen."

"Why does everyo-" Weiss began, but then sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "You know what? I give up!"

"So..." Yang started slowly and awkwardly. "Mind explaining why you guys decided to bust into our room?"

The three remaining members of JNPR glanced at each other, their expressions suddenly turning serious. This caused confusion among Team RWBY and the two Haven students standing by the window that NPR still have failed to notice. "Um, guys..." Ruby called out, waving her hand in front of Pyrrha's face. The warrior blinked and frowned.

"It's..." She bit her lip and looked away, and everyone could hear her light sniffles. "It's best if Nora told you. She's the one who told us, after all."

"Told you what?" Blake asked, finally lowering herself from Yang's bunk.

All eyes turned to Nora, who was finding a sudden interest in her feet. She shuffled around awkwardly under the gazes of everyone present, and that familiar uncertainty returned to her. 'Oh God,' she thought. 'It was hard enough telling Ren and Pyrrha, but now everyone?!' She felt herself tear up for the second or third time that day, but she wiped her eyes and shook her head. 'No, Nora Valkyrie,' she scolded herself. 'You're not going to cry. You're going to help Jaune, and you won't cry!'

"Nora." Ren's voice broke her train of thought, and she glanced up to see Ren's unusually gentle expression. His hand was holding hers, and he gave it a firm squeeze. "It's okay," he reassured his childhood friend. "Take your time, there's no rush."

"Actually..." Ruby spoke up, but was silenced by a cuff over the head by Weiss. "Ow...Never mind..."

Nora nodded and turned back to her friends, and whoever the two in the back were. "Okay, this is going to be a lot to take in," she told everyone, her serious tone letting everyone know that she wasn't going to joke around. "Last night, I was walking through Vale when I ran into someone..."

"Who?" one of the new guys, Neptune, asked.

Nora hesitated. "Jaune."

The entire room seemed to freeze, even the two Haven students could tell how heavy the situation was. The faunus, Sun, slowly leaned towards Blake and whispered, "Isn't that the friend of yours that got expelled a month ago and went missing?"

Blake nodded. "The very same," she answered.

"...Jaune?" Ruby whispered, as joy began to swell up inside at the mention of her first crush. She glanced at her teammates to catch their reactions as well. Blake had an overall neutral expression on her face, but her amber eyes revealed a hidden joy. Yang's shocked face slowly crept into a grin, while Weiss... Ruby had to think about that one. The heiress had a plethora of emotions flickering across her eyes, ranging from anger to...was that actually happiness the girl was showing?

"But..." Nora continued, sitting back down on Weiss's bed. "Guys, he... Jaune isn't...the same guy we knew before..."

It was at this moment that Pyrrha excused herself from the room, everyone catching the faint sound of her beginning to sob.

"What do you mean, he's not the same?" Weiss questioned hesitantly, not even sure if she wanted to know the answer. If it was enough to drive Nora into this level of seriousness, and enough for Pyrrha to have to leave the room, was it really that bad? Who was Jaune in that case? The fun, lovable idiot she knew since the start of the school year, or...someone else?

"Well, I..." Nora took another deep breath, before she told them everything that happened. She told them about how she had to chase Jaune down, and how she learned of his...living situation and his means of getting by. She recalled how she had tried to help him, but he had harshly turned her away, causing the two to argue. Finally, Nora had ran away, tears pouring out of her eyes as she couldn't believe that the boy she saw was the same boy that she had once put all her trust into.

"...eventually I realized that I shouldn't give up," Nora concluded after a lengthy explanation. "So I was hoping we could all go searching for him, to show him that he has friends who care. And we wanted your guys' help."

The six others all glanced at each other, silently debating on what to do. On one hand, they felt that they should go help find Jaune. He _was_ their friend, after all, and it was clearly obvious that Ruby and possibly Weiss seemed to be leaning towards finding their blonde friend, but on the other hand...

"We'd love to help," Blake said, her bow twitching. "But... The six of us were about to do a mission of our own." She flinched at Nora's dejected look, feeling guilty for turning her down.

"The White Fang." Ren guessed, crossing his arms. Blake nodded.

"Hey, that doesn't mean we can't keep an eye out for him," Yang suggested. "Besides, I have a friend on the shady side of town who knows everything there is to know. I can go ask him for any info." Her eyes then briefly turned red. "And when I find vomit boy I'll kick his ass for just up and ditching us."

"Please don't!" Ruby quickly interjected. "There's a time and place for punching things, Yang! And it doesn't involve Jaune at all!"

"I say he at least deserves a slap," Weiss huffed.

"So..." said Sun, turning to Nora. "I think what everyone means is we'll help however we can." Nora immediately brightened up, gazing at each and everyone member present. They all smiled and nodded at her, even Blake. Nora felt pure happiness inside her, one that she hadn't felt for a month and a half.

"Thank you, all of you!"

...

Neo sighed and rolled her eyes as she allowed Jaune to vomit into a trashcan. Apparently the boy suffered from motion sickness, and her teleportion really didn't help his case. 'What a great way to start a date,' she thought sarcastically, when she suddenly realized what she had thought. Blushing, she shook her head and cleared away those thoughts. 'This is not a date, this is not a date,' she repeated mentally.

She then glanced around, and when she determined that no one was watching them she allowed her semblance to create a disguise for her. No longer the triple colored ice cream assassin the entire criminal underworld recognized her to be, the girl now sported an entirely different look. The entire disguise was themed black and white, starting with black hair tied into twin tails thanks to two white ribbons. She wore a sleeveless black blouse with white frills on the chest and collar, a black bow hanging from the collar. She wore a knee length black skirt that was fastened by a white belt, along with black shoes and white leg warmers. The disguise was completed with bright green eyes replacing her unusual pink and brown ones.

When Jaune finally gained control over his stomach again, he turned around to face Neo and froze, his mouth falling open at the entirely new girl in front of him. His eyes briefly wandered over her lithe frame, before he shook his head and brought his eyes back up to meet hers. "You look beautiful," he complimented without thinking. A blush formed across Neo's face, and soon Jaune felt himself heat up. "N-Not that you weren't beautiful before!" he stammered. "I..I just, well uh..." He sighed and shook his head. "Just forget I said anything."

Neo silently nodded, and slowly took his arm to lead him towards their destination. She bit her lip and spared a glance at the lanky boy she had taken in. Wow... Neo knew she was attractive, the hungry eyes of various thugs were enough proof of that. But still, no one had actually called her _beautiful_ before...

She found herself wishing he would've said that before she put on her disguise.

"Hey," Jaune's voice reached her, and she glanced up at him curiously. The boy turned away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry for throwing up," he muttered sheepishly. "It's the family curse, all males in the family suffer from motion sickness..."

 **It's okay.** Neo typed into her scroll. **At least it wasn't on me.**

"Y-yeah..." Jaune was silent for a moment, before turning back to the girl. "So where are we going?"

Neo smiled and pointed up, showing that they had already arrived. Jaune followed her finger, and saw a sign that read: _The Little Penguin's Ice Cream Shoppe._ Next to the words was an adorable cartoon of a penguin holding a cone of strawberry ice cream, a happy grin on its...beak.

"What are we doing here?" he asked, before mentally facepalming at his own stupidity. 'You're a fucking genius, Jaune,' he thought sarcastically.

Neo didn't answer, instead her eyes were fixed on a sign taped to the front door of the shop. She motioned for Jaune to come closer, and when he did she pointed at the sign. Jaune curiously looked it over, realizing that it was a 'help wanted' sign. He bit his lip and turned towards the short girl. "You...want me to apply for a job here?" he guessed, assuming that Neo was planning on staying an assassin forever.

Neo nodded, typing something into her scroll before showing it to him. **I did say I'd help you find a job, right? Well here's an opportunity right in front of you.**

"Thanks, but..." Jaune glanced up at the shop's sign, chuckling awkwardly. "It does take away what little pride I have left."

Neo rolled her eyes. **A job is a job, Jaune.** She typed. **It would still be a lot better than what you were doing when I met you, right?** She almost typed 'found' instead of 'met', but changed it as she thought she would come off as a bit too possessive.

Jaune was silent for a few moments, before he sighed and nodded. "Yeah..." he reluctantly agreed. "Are we just here to get me a job or...?"

Neo grinned and shook her head, opening the door and stepping inside, Jaune in tow.

...

Once the two had gotten their ice cream they exited the shop, and Jaune once again allowed Neo to take the lead. The girl had, as expected, ordered a free cone of Neapolitan ice cream thanks to one of the coupons she had. Jaune had simply ordered plain vanilla, and was currently licking it as he stared blankly at the _Little Penguin's Ice Cream Shoppe_ application he held in his hand. He sighed, knowing that there was no point in trying to throw it away. If Neo was anything like his sisters then he'd have no choice but to fill it out and turn it in.

They eventually found a bench they could rest on, and it was then that Neo struck up a conversation. **So tell me a bit about yourself, Jaune.** She typed.

Jaune frowned. "Neo, I already told y-"

 **I don't want to know about Beacon.** She quickly interrupted with another message. **I want to know about you.**

"..." Jaune glanced away and scratching his cheek. "Not much to tell," he admitted. "I come from a long line of warriors, for starters." Neo nodded and scooted closer.

'Huh, he doesn't look like it,' she thought.

"...I also have seven sisters..."

Neo's mouth dropped wide open, her ice cream nearly falling out of her hands as she tried to find the words to describe her shock. _Seven_ sisters?! Oh God that must have been... Neo shuddered slightly. She knew how she could get during her time of the month, and that was enough to scare Roman into hiding under his blankets. So having to grow up with seven times as much?!

Without much thought, she wrapped her arms around Jaune and slowly stroked his head in a motherly way.

"Uh...N-Neo?" Jaune gasped as his face flushed red. Neo pulled away, and after getting a hold of herself she began typing into her scroll once more. Finally, she licked her lips in satisfaction, and turned her scroll around to show it to Jaune.

 **Now ask something about me. It's only fair that I tell you a bit about myself.**

"How'd you become Roman Torchwick's partner?" he asked without pause. He hoped she wouldn't mind answering, truth be told it was something he had been wondering since his run in with the stylish criminal. He hoped Neo wouldn't mind a question like that, the last thing he needed was for her to get angry.

Thankfully, Neo just smiled and lifted her disguised green eyes and tapped her chin as if she was in thought. Finally, after about a minute she pulled out her scroll and typed with just her thumb as she licked away the remainder of her ice cream.

 **Well, a couple of years ago I ran away from home.** She began. **Dad always came home scary drunk and Mom had died of cancer when I was little. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore so I sneaked out one night and never came back. It was Roman who found me, and I guess he took pity on me or something, said I reminded him of himself. It was him who trained me in the basics of combat, I figured out the harder stuff myself. I eventually unlocked my aura because of him, and we've been partners ever since.**

She hadn't meant to give him the true story, she was intending to give him some vague answer. She didn't like talking about her past, but in the presence of Jaune... She didn't know what came over her. Sure, it was a _very_ shortened version of the truth, but it was the truth none of the less. She frowned as her hand briefly went to her throat, fingers tracing over the faint, barely noticeable scar that formed on her windpipe.

"Neo?" Jaune's voice brought her back to where they were, and he gazed at her with...surprisingly concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"

Neo bit her lip, caught completely off guard by the warmth the boy gave. She felt herself blushing and she mentally slapped herself. 'No, bad Neo,' she hissed mentally. 'No weird thoughts like that. Remember, this isn't a date!'

 **I'm fine.** She then stood up and finished her ice cream, beckoning Jaune to follow her as she skipped away.

'What the hell was that all about?' she wondered.

...

Jaune felt himself about to throw up for the second time that day.

He had admittedly...enjoyed his little outing with Neo. But damn, did that girl love her ice cream. Neo's idea of spending time together was apparently to spend her coupons that he had no idea about on practically every ice cream store in town. Jaune _tried_ to refuse, but the girl wouldn't have it that way. His stomach made another strange gurgle, and he groaned in discomfort as he tried to ignore it, instead focusing on filling out the rest of his job application.

"Better get used to it, kid," Junior warned with a shake of his head. "Those coupons are still good for a week, and Neo practically lives off ice cream."

"Please no..." Jaune whined, banging his head against the counter. After their little ice cream adventure, Neo had taken Jaune to Junior's to take it easy. Junior had closed early, so the only customers were Jaune and Neo, who was currently rubbing Jaune's back to calm him, her disguise gone.

Neo smiled slyly, chuckling to herself at Jaune's misery. 'Lightweight,' she thought. 'Gonna have to train him if he is ever going to keep up with me.' A familiar damp feeling formed on her crotch, but she simply ignored it as she continued her massage. 'C'mon, public sex is just trashy,' she chuckled mentally.

Suddenly, before anyone could say anything else, two of Junior's men burst through the doors, scurrying to keep them shut. "Boss, she's here!" one of them yelled, panicking. The other way silently praying to God, begging to be spared of the 'big breasted witch's' wrath.

"What?!" Junior hissed, his eyes wide with fear Jaune and Neo had never seen before.

"What's goin-" Jaune was cut off as a huge _boom_ sounded from behind him, followed by a familiar cheery voice that made his blood run cold.

"Hello, boys!" Yang Xiao Long announced her presence. "I'm back!"

...

 **First Nora and now Yang? I really love to fuck with Jaune, don't I? XD**

 **But anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, everyone! These "ice cream outings" are gonna happen more often, as it will serve as a way for Jaune and Neo to bond and learn about each other. And yes, I shamelessly used Neo's disguise from when she appeared in the Vytal Festival. Fucking sue me!**

 **ALSO! I have a poll set up about a new RWBY story I got planned out, so if you could all check that out and take the time to participate, that would be great :) Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I hate to be that stereotypical teenager who thinks the world revolves around him and everything should go his way, but life FUCKING BLOWS RIGHT NOW! You wanna know what took this chapter so fucking long? Because literally EVERYTHING that can happen that stops me from getting free time to write, guess what? It fucking happened! So yeah, I'm basically using this author's note to let out all of my anger and frustration built up over the past several days so you can just skip it or whatever. But whatever, I guess I'm practically done with it anyway. To those who enjoy this story, sorry this took so long. To those who have concerns for this story, I'll try my best to improve, don't be afraid to keep notifying me about that.**

 **On with the story, hopefully this'll help me calm down. BECAUSE EVERYTHING ELSE HAS BEEN DOING A PRETTY SHITTY JOB!**

 **...**

When Yang had mentioned the word 'friend', Neptune had expected something more...friendly. Two pals sharing a drink or whatever, a lighthearted sparring match, maybe a sort of fuck buddies type of deal. What he _didn't_ expect was an entire mob of dangerous looking goons aiming all of their weapons right at the buxom blonde the moment she had announced her presence. Even though he was behind her and couldn't see her face, the blue haired ladies man could tell she had a frown on her face.

"Aw, c'mon," he heard her mutter under her breath. "You guys are _still_ salty about that? Yeesh, tough crowd..."

The men didn't look amused, the scowls on their faces showing that they wanted nothing more than to shoot Yang right in the face. Neptune slowly peeked over the brawler's shoulder, cautiously observing the gangsters. "Um, yeah... Mind defining 'friend' for me?" he sarcastically asked.

Yang shrugged and whispered back, "I guess I might have gone a bit too hard on them last time..."

Neptune blinked. "What do you exactly mean by that?"

"Stop, stop!" A new voice had broken through the tense silence, and a bearded, rather burly man broke through the crowd, giving the men a stern look. "No one shoot," he ordered them, and they reluctantly put their weapons away, murmuring things among themselves. The man gave a satisfied sigh, before straightening his tie (paired with one sharp suit, Neptune may add) and turning back to the two teenagers. "Blondie," he greeted through a forced smile. "You're back..."

Neptune saw the man glance back to look at something, and the Haven student noticed two customers in the corner of the bar, but he couldn't make out any details about them. The man then turned back to Yang, and his face became slightly nervous. "...why?" he wondered.

"Um, Yang," Neptune began. "Maybe we should-"

"You still owe me a drink," Yang explained, completely ignoring Neptune. She then walked over to him, her hips swaying, and grabbed the large man by his tie. With a cocky and flirtatious smirk that nearly made Neptune melt, she dragged the club owner away towards the bar. The goons quickly returned to their normal business, but they all kept an uncertain eye on the buxom brawler.

"What a woman..." Neptune murmured, before his eyes caught sight of two _very_ attractive twins watching him from a few feet away with bored expressions. Flashing them a confident grin full of pearly whites, he gave a smug nod towards their direction. "Sup?" he greeted, his attempt at flirting a bit too casual.

The girls rolled their eyes, and both turned their backs to him and walked away with teasing hips and curves. "Whatever," they both scoffed, completely rejecting the poor boy. Neptune felt himself deflate a little, and he began dragging his feet towards Yang in order to lick his wounded pride.

'Man, I'm losing my touch,' he thought, before something else managed to catch his eye.

It was the two customers he had seen before, although now he could get a clearer picture thanks to no thugs blocking his view. One boy, and one _insanely hot_ girl. She seemed a bit short, but her gorgeous figure screamed that she wasn't a kid at all. She wore a strange color scheme, consisting of white, pink, and brown, reminding Neptune of Neapolitan ice cream.

The girl seemed to notice him, and he was taken aback when she looked his way with the most unusual eyes he had ever seen. One pink, one brown, and both seemed to be glaring daggers at him. Neptune gulped, but figured he could try his luck once more. He gave a friendly wave, which the girl kindly responded to with a not so friendly middle finger. She then turned back to her companion, rubbing his shoulders affectionately while keeping a dangerous eye on the student.

Neptune sighed and shook his head. 'Yeesh, would it kill everyone for me to just get scored for once?' he wondered with a frown. He looked at the two one more time, the boy in particular. "Lucky bastard," he murmured to himself. "How'd he get hooked with such a hottie?" The boy didn't seem much at first glance, just tall, blonde, and really scraggly. He continued to make his way towards Yang, wanting to get this over with and stop Torchwick as soon as possible.

Maybe the scrawny guy was just one of those nerds with a big co-

Neptune froze. 'Wait one fucking second,' he told himself, turning around to look back at the couple. His eyes focused on the boy. "Tall, blonde, and scraggly," he repeated under his breath.

 _"Hey, Weiss," Neptune began once he and the snow angel had some time before the mission. "Just so I know what to look out for, care to explain Jaune to me?"_

 _Weiss nodded, a barely visible smile on her face as she shrugged. "He was nice." she said. "An...admittedly good leader, not the brightest but he had passable skills. Had low self esteem, but was one of those guys who always put everyone else before himself. He used to flirt with me a lot, even though it was painfully obvious that his teammate had feelings for him. She even kissed him when he was expelled..."_

 _Neptune waved for her to stop. "Thanks for that, but I meant appearance-wise."_

 _Weiss blushed a bit and chuckled awkwardly, looking away. "Yes, of course..." She cleared her throat, and tapped her finger against her chin in thought. Finally, she shrugged once more. "Tall, blonde, and scraggly," was all she said._

'No way...' Neptune thought as realization hit him. That kid... Was it possibly Jaune? Granted, there must have been tons of scraggly blondes in the word, but Weiss's description was spot on! If it was Jaune... Neptune grinned. Oh, how happy Weiss and Yang would be! He could see it now... They lay him down on the bed, lips interlocking to give him a show as they start peeling their clothes off, their feet rubbing the hard bulge in his-

Neptune shook the fantasy out of his head, slapping himself a few times. No, bad Neptune... That could wait, right now he needed to let Yang know! He began jogging towards the blonde and her companion, noticing the girl with Jaune giving him another death glare, her fingers typing something into her scroll.

...

 **That guy was watching you.** Neo had an overall bad feeling the moment the two teenagers waltzed into the club, and a sudden urge to protect Jaune came over her. Whoever these people were, she had a striking suspicion that they had something to do with Jaune's situation. Whatever that was, she was in no mood to lose her toy, or have him become even _more_ angsty than he already was. After their little bonding time earlier today, she was hoping to test the waters a little, see how far she could get. When the blue haired idiot seemed to recognize Jaune, her suspicions had been confirmed.

Jaune read the text and glanced at the blue haired man, who was currently trying to get Yang's attention. "I don't know him," he said nervously.

Neo raised an eyebrow and took another glance, eyes focusing on the busty blonde. She typed another message and handed her scroll to the former knight. **But you know the girl, right?**

Jaune sighed and nodded silently, answering the ice cream girl's question. "Yeah..." he finally murmured. "Her name's Yang, she goes to Beacon. We hung out a few times before I was expelled."

Neo nodded and turned to look at the two newcomers, who were now looking back. Now, Neo wasn't afraid of many things, she was an assassin. She stared fear right in the face and came back out with a sadistic smirk. But the red eyes Yang was giving her was enough to make even her on edge. She watched as Yang turned back to ask Junior something, who simply shrugged and said something that sounded along the lines of "Roman's girl."

'That's it, I'm killing him.' Neo decided with a frown.

Yang growled, and suddenly began stomping toward them, flames licking her hair and the blue haired guy nervously trailing behind her. Neo recognized this as a sign to retreat. Grabbing Jaune's shoulder, she was right about to teleport them back to the warehouse when suddenly she felt someone yank her back. Immediately, Neo retaliated with a swift kick, catching her opponent in the chest. She pulled out her parasol and brought it into a defensive position, facing the one who dared lay a hand on her. It was Yang, unsurprisingly, who had her fist raised in preparation of attack.

Before either one of them could do anything, Junior's voice suddenly broke through the tension. "That's enough!" He roared in a voice so commanding it caught the two fighters by surprise. "There will be no violence tonight, alright?! I've spent over a month fixing this place after Blondie wrecked it the first time, and I swear if you start another battle here again I WILL report you for property damage!"

Yang frowned, but eventually sighed and stepped back. "Fine," she hissed. "Only because of that strawberry sunrise, though." Neo nodded, making her way towards Jaune and standing in front of him protectively. She caught sight of the other girl raising an eyebrow, and Neo returned that with a scowl.

Suddenly, she felt Jaune place his hand on her shoulder, and gently pull her back. She turned to face him, her pink and brown eyes full of surprise. Jaune gave her a firm look, one that said to let him take care of it. Although reluctant, Neo bit her lip and nodded, leaning in and pecking his cheek in order to build up on the events that had happened earlier. She then sat down on one of the stools, and she couldn't help but feel a bit of pride for the former knight.

'Not like I would've minded taking care of him, but it's nice to see him stand up for himself,' she thought. 'Even if it may just be a one time thing.'

She never said she had _complete_ confidence in the kid.

...

Jaune knew he had to face the music eventually. He remembered his argument with Nora, the heartbroken look in her eyes. He hated seeing her like that, Nora was always such a sweet girl, and seeing her look so betrayed made him wish he hadn't been so selfish. Then, Neo had appeared. That crazy criminal who somehow decided to take him in. Jaune wasn't too much of an idiot, he was aware that she lusted for him. But still, she had readily provided him a place to stay and pick himself back up, he had to give her that. And earlier today, during their totally not-a-date, he actually had...a decently good time.

He had realized, at least partially, that he had to come to terms with everything. He knew he wasn't anywhere close to fully recovering from his...experiences, that road was quite long. But as he watched Neo and Yang stare each other down, he figured... Might as well take the first step. Taking a deep, nervous breath, he grabbed Neo's shoulder and pulled her back. She looked at him in surprise, and he gave her a stare that he _hoped_ would convince her to let him take control. Surprisingly, it worked. Neo nodded reluctantly, and she leaned up to kiss the boy's cheek. Jaune blushed, but decided to let it slide.

He would deal with Neo later. Right now, he had to make peace with a _very_ angry Yang. Gulping, he stepped in front of her, their eyes locking.

"So," Yang began after a minute of silence. "Is this what you've been doing, vomit boy? Hanging out with criminals?"

Jaune flinched at her accusing tone, but he couldn't really blame her. Taking a word to carefully consider his words, he said, "Yang... I know I was wrong to leave you guys in the dark." He bit his lip, using his fingers to massage his palms. "But I can explain everything, trust me. None of this is what it looks like." He heard what sounded like an offended scoff from behind him, and he shrugged. "I mean, I guess it kind of is what it looks like... Maybe."

Yang went quiet again, her eyes closed. Jaune didn't know whether to take this as a good sign or a bad sign. Finally, Yang opened her eyes, and Jaune was relieved to see they lost their red color. Still, he could see she was clearly not happy. "Jaune..." She rarely ever used his real name. "Do you know how much Ruby cried, how heartbroken she was when you never even called, or gave us any sign that you still cared?" She didn't sound angry, just...disappointed. "You were her first friend in Beacon, her first crush even. Do you know what your disappearance did to her?"

"..." Jaune didn't speak, right now he felt like he had no right to. Not until Yang was finished.

"When Nora told us that she saw you, you could see all the joy and happiness return to her in an instant," the brawler continued. "I was originally thinking about simply beating the shit out of you whenever I saw you again, but I couldn't... Not while my little sis was showing so much life." She sighed, and shook her head. "So... For her sake, I'll listen to you. But you have to tell me everything, no hiding anything." Her eyes briefly flashed red before going back to their default lilac. "Or else you _will_ regret it."

Jaune nodded in response. 'Fair enough,' he thought. "Okay..." He took a deep breath. "I messed up, Yang. Really, really bad. I was too ashamed to face my father, let him know I was a fraud, so I ran. I ran and spent the past month and a half getting by by doing things I'm not proud of. Neo found me, and despite her being...yes, a criminal, she agreed to take me in and help me get back up on my feet." As he said this, the short girl wrapped her arms around one of his, clinging to it with her usual cat-like smirk. "That's... The basic version," he finished, trying to shake Neo off without it being too obvious.

It seemed like Neo did notice, because she gave a small pout and clung to him tighter.

Yang let Jaune's words sink in for a couple moments, before she frowned. "God, Weiss was right to call you an idiot," she muttered. "Why didn't you let us help you?"

"I...didn't want you guys seeing me so low," the former Beacon student said.

"We wouldn't have cared!" Yang argued, briefly flaring up once more. "We would've helped you, and we would _still_ help you now! So why won't you let us?! Why ignore us and instead fall into the hands of some crazy villain chick?! Do you really don't want to be with us anymore?!"

"Yang..." Neptune tried intervening, but Yang shrugged him off.

Jaune looked down, shaking his head sadly. "Yang... All I want to do is be with you guys again," he admitted. "But not like this, not while I haven't picked myself up yet. I don't want to be with you guys how I am now, I want to be with you when I have my life back in order."

"And Roman's girl is somehow gonna help?" the brawler questioned skeptically.

Jaune flinched again. Okay, yeah... It was pretty easy to see why Yang wouldn't be so convinced. "Neo..." He turned to look at the girl in question, who seemed just as curious as Yang to hear what he had to say. "Neo... I know she's not really the most...trustworthy person..." Another offended scoff from the girl. "But she was the first to try to help me since my expulsion!" Jaune quickly added, and he was rewarded by a satisfied hum from behind. Scratching the back of his head, he reasoned, "So she can't be that bad, right? Just now she was helping me fill out a job application..."

Yang thought about it for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Makes sense..." she mumbled. "I still don't trust her, but I'll trust you..." She then sat down, waving for Junior to get another drink. "Still, though... I am going to tell the others about this, and we _will_ try to get a hold of you." She smirked. "Don't try avoiding us from now on, okay?"

Jaune nervously nodded. "I'll try."

"Good." Junior came back with another strawberry sunrise, and Yang took a large gulp from it. "So," she said once she swallowed. "When did you and Neo meet, eh?"

"...last night."

The silence was entirely awkward, even Junior's goons and the two twins seemed to pause. Jaune felt all eyes on him, and he blushed heavily. 'Oh, that's just great,' he thought sarcastically. He glanced up at Neo, who seemed to be trying to hold in her laughter at the boy's embarrassment. 'Traitor.'

"BWHAHAHA!" Yang nearly fell out of her seat laughing, pounding the counter with her fist as tears began streaming out of her eyes. _"Oh my fucking God!"_ she cried between chuckles. "It's like the plot of some trashy fanfiction!"

"Just kill what little dignity I have left, why don't you?" Jaune grumbled, earning a pat on the shoulder by Neo.

"I'm sorry, Jaune," Yang apologized when she recovered. She patted the boy's head, a slight smile on her face. "It's good to see you again, next time I'll bring Ruby."

Jaune nodded, still trying to recover his lost pride.

"Although..." Yang suddenly turned to Neo. "I suppose you won't answer any questions I have about Torchwick?"

Neo shook her head, her smirk ever present. Yang sighed, shaking her head.

"I thought so," she growled softly. "Listen, pipsqueak, the only reason I'm not taking you down right now is because Jaune's here, alright? But if I ever see you without him, I'm calling it fair game, capiche?"

Neo grinned and nodded, the look on her face saying "I can't wait."

Yang grunted, then began dragging Neptune away by the collar of his jacket. "C'mon, hot stuff," she said. "Let's get out of here and meet with the others."

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Neptune stuttered. He turned to Jaune and Neo and gave a small wave. "Nice to have met you!"

When Yang had exited, everyone in the club let out a collective sigh of relief. Jaune collapsed onto a stool, looking like he might throw up any minute. "That was really hard to do," he wheezed as Neo went back to her duty of massaging his shoulders.

"You really meant all that, kid?" Junior asked, raising an eyebrow as he filled a mug with heavy beer. He handed it to Jaune, smirking. "Here ya go, you've earned it."

Jaune nodded his thanks and held up his application. "Of course I did," he clarified as he waved the paper back and forth. "An Arc never goes back on his word! It's about time I put that motto into use."

 **Well, I'll help you however I can, Jaune.**

Jaune finished reading the message and nodded towards the ice cream girl. "Thanks, Neo." The girl smiled at him, giving a cute wink. Jaune felt his cheeks go red again, but this time he managed to hide it. Nope, nope, nope... 'You're not falling for her charms and tricks, Jaune Arc,' he told himself. 'You'll let her help you, but that is it!'

As he began downing his drink, Neo and Junior began having a conversation of their own. "Hey, thanks for agreeing to take care of the kid," the club owner started, his voice lowered so only Neo could hear him.

 **It was nothing, how could I refuse after all those coupons you gave me? Thanks for that, btw.**

"You're welcome." Junior then took a glance at Jaune, who took another swig of beer as he finished his application. "You don't have to hide anything from me, y'know. You have a soft spot for the kid, don't you?"

 **What makes you think that?**

"It's obvious," Junior explained. "He's a good guy, isn't he?

 **He's alright... I don't like him in that way, though.**

Junior raised a skeptic eyebrow. "Then what way do you like him?" he asked.

Neo winked suggestively, making lewd motions with her fingers. She chuckled, but stopped when she saw the serious frown on the man's face. She tilted her head curiously, waiting for him to tell her what was up. She noticed Junior place his hands on the counter and tighten them. "So that's it, huh?" he asked, his voice borderline snarling. "You're just playing him."

Neo shrugged, typing a message into her scroll. **What if I am? You really thought I'd be doing this out of the goodness of my heart, Junior? A girl has her needs, I'm simply fulfilling mine.**

"Maybe it was a mistake to let you take care of him..." she heard Junior murmur. He then leaned forward, his hardened eyes locking with her confident ones. "If he ever finds out, or he gets hurt, you'll have hell to pay."

Neo silently chuckled, her eyes showing that she was now willing to kill. She waved her parasol around lazily and grinned. She typed something into her scroll and showed it to the man. **Oh please, you know I could murder everyone in this club in less than a minute if I really wanted to.**

"I wasn't talking about me and my boys," Junior told her. "I was talking about his Beacon buddies. I've seen Blondie fight before, and if the rest of his friends are anywhere close to her level then you'll be getting your ass kicked faster than a dust bullet."

 **They'll be dead before they lay a single hit on me. Stay out of this, Junior. The kid is no longer yours to deal with.**

Junior didn't say anything, he just took a sympathetic glance towards Jaune. He sighed and shook his head, sadly admitting defeat. 'Kid,' he thought.'I hope you know what you're getting yourself into.'

...

 **I lowkey broke the fourth wall! :D Yeh...**

 **Anyway, I guess you can say this kicks off Jaune's official road to recovery. He has made peace with Yang, but will that last? And it seems Neo is acting especially evil today... Junior only wants to help Jaune, but how can he with the pint sized terror on the case? Oh yeah, and I'm feeling MUCH better after writing that! Sorry for being a douche in the eariier author's note...**

 **ALSO! If you haven't already, please check out my OTHER RWBY fanfic, "The Azure Knight". For those of you wanting a bit more action, then that one should be more satisfying. Technically, it's a sort of crossover, but I SWEAR you don't have to have knowledge of the other universe to get the story, I'm writing it in a way that everyone can (hopefully) enjoy. Don't forget to review! and remember, stay wykkyd!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I hate writer's block more than anything on earth, I swear to God... It only becomes worse since I'm also in the middle of writing an essay that can easily make or break my grades. These past few weeks haven't exactly been the best for me XD Oh well, these little author's notes help, even if you don't read them. It's just a nice way to let loose a little steam...**

 **Anyway, uh... No one pointed out any bad grammar during the last chapter, so at least there's that plus? :P I'm just trying to find the positives in life, guys! Don't judge meeee!**

 ***cough* Watching RWBY Volume 2 as I'm writing this. Hopefully some background noise will actually help me concentrate a little, because God knows everything else hasn't been working.**

 **...**

The Atlesian Paladin didn't stand a remote chance against Yang Xiao Long's gauntlets, it shattered upon impact, and Roman Torchwick flew out and landed painfully on his back. Dazed and groaning, the master thief slowly picked himself up, wincing as a sharp stab of pain crossed through him. 'Shit, fuck...' he hissed internally.

Sighing and trying to recollect himself, he began the task of dusting off his stylish suit, a frown forming. "Just got this thing cleaned..." he growled, turning to the four girls who had become quite the pain in his ass. He was about to hit them with a wise-ass remark, but he froze when he saw the red eyed glare of murderous intent that the blonde sent his way. She then reloaded her gauntlets, a wicked grin crossing her beautiful features.

Roman began to back away, his eyes shifting left and right. 'Neo, now would be a good time to do something!' he complained, and just then Yang charged at him, her fist raised.

"Oh for fuck's-"

That was all Roman had time to get out before his world went black.

...

Neo was _not_ happy as she and Jaune teleported back to the living space within the warehouse. Yes, the day had started out good, great even. Jaune had proven to be genuinely nice company. But what had happened at Junior's club... _UGH!_ Neo rarely made a sound, but that groan had managed to escape her throat, causing the blonde next to her to jump a bit, then frown.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Neo didn't pull out her scroll, she only shook her head. _"Nothing,"_ she mouthed, collapsing on the couch. Stupid Junior. Stupid bimbo bitch. Stupid blue-haired fuck boy. Jaune's friends certainly seemed dead set on ruining her plans... She wanted to punch something, anything! This wasn't how things were supposed to go...

Neo forced herself to calm down as Jaune took a cautious seat next to her. "You can't lie to me," he told her. "Seven sisters, remember? I've dealt with a lot worse than this, trust me."

Neo rolled her eyes but reluctantly pulled out her scroll. Fine, fine... She was the one who wanted to get in the stupid kid's pants anyway, might as well humor him too...

Neo flinched at her harsh thought, though she refused to acknowledge it. Typing a message on her scroll, she tossed the device carelessly at Jaune, who caught it awkwardly. **Just something Junior said before we left, it's private business.**

Jaune nodded, not pushing the question further. Now that was something Neo could appreciate, a guy who acted the opposite of Roman.

Speaking of Roman... The guy should have been back by now, it's not like the warehouse he was delivering his speech at was that far away from the one they used as a living quarters. A simple speech, right? Twenty minutes at most? Maybe?

Neo frowned. Oh God, if that idiot got arrested then so help her-

"Neo, you're frowning again." Jaune pointed out.

Neo sighed and stood up, stomping towards the kitchen and leaving the former knight behind. 'Screw this, I need some more ice cream,' she decided.

Obviously, she had only told Jaune part of the truth. Yes, Junior's 'friendly' talk hadn't helped her mood, but Yang was also partially responsible. And Jaune, she had to admit... The boy had just straight up told his tragic tale to the buxom brawler, and now she was probably gonna blab it out to everyone else they knew. No doubt, they would want to start visiting their friend.

Neo could see the benefits. Jaune might be happy to be with his friends once more, and that might help lighten the mood a bit. Make him more willing... But on the other hand, her jealous side wanted the former Beacon student to herself. Silly and immature, most would say, but Neo would have just stabbed anyone who tried.

She grabbed herself the largest spoon she could find, then reached into the freezer and pulled out... Plain vanilla. Neo gritted her teeth. Damn Roman and his lack of taste! Reluctantly deciding to eat it anyway, she settled down at the kitchen table and yanked the lid off the tub, digging her spoon into the frozen dessert. Despite its...plain flavor, she still sighed in content as it made contact with her taste buds. Instantly, her stressed melted away. Truly ice cream was the best medicine.

She still wanted to kick Yang's ass, though. Hopefully she'd get her chance someday.

But that wasn't important right now. Neo had other things to think about, such as her next move on Jaune. She took a peek at the boy, who had settled down onto the couch, apparently trying to get some sleep. Ugh... Why couldn't he just be like every other guy she had laid and just jumped at the chance? Neo had briefly considered ditching her campaign for the former knight, but decided against it. As much as she hated the guy right now, she _did_ make Junior a promise... Neo was many things... A thief, a murderer, a thug, a liar, a partial sex addict, but she still kept her promises.

No one had ever broken the ones they had made to her so far, after all.

Tomorrow... Tomorrow was a new day, she told herself. And even if Jaune's 'buddies' decided to get involve, she wouldn't let that stop her. But... If they got too close...

Neo grinned wickedly. Well, _maybe_ she could teach them a lesson or two.

The light snores coming from the couch indicated that Jaune had fallen asleep, and Neo took a peek at her scroll to check the time. Oh wow, it was pretty late... Sighing, Neo finally realized the fatigue that had settled over her, and she figured she might as well get some sleep. Putting the ice cream back in the freezer and tossing the spoon into the sink, she made her way towards her own room.

It was rather plain, just one bed and a drawer. That, and due to the whole warehouse thing it was less of a room and more of a private space with various large crates acting as walls. Stripping herself of her clothing, the girl crawled into her and finally undid her hair, letting the loose ponytail free. She completed the before-bed act by sending a quick message to Roman's scroll. **What's taking so long?**

With a final sigh, Neo closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take her over.

...

When she awoke, the first thing Neo did was check her scroll to see if Roman had answered. Unfortunately, he hadn't, and Neo began to wonder if the thief actually _had_ been arrested. That... Would not be good. After all, Neo still needed her paycheck, and she'd be damned if she was caught working clean. Nah, Neo liked the criminal life too much.

Her scroll then vibrated, catching the girl's attention. She reached for it and opened it, noticing it was a message from one of Cinder's lackeys... Murphy or something like that.

 **Have some bad news for ya.** it read. Right under it was a link to an article, and Neo clicked on it curiously. She frowned as she read the title, the words confirming her suspicions.

Roman Torchwick had been arrested last night.

 _Roman Torchwick, infamous thief throughout the Kingdom of Vale, was arrested last night by authorities after having stolen one of the recently developed Atlesian Paladins and used it to wreak havoc. Torchwick was followed by a young team of huntresses from Beacon, Team RWBY, and was reportedly defeated in combat by them. While citizens of Vale dub the four girls as heroes, General James Ironwood from Atlas has expressed his disappointment. "I simply can't understand how a lowlife like Torchwick could get his hands on such precious military technology," says Ironwood. "But I can assure you that my men are doing their very best to discover the answers, and we have reasons to suspect possible connections with the White Fang. What Torchwick could have been doing with them is still unanswered, but we will get results."_

Neo wanted to scream out of pure annoyance. This was just _fucking_ great! First that bimbo had to waltz in on the ice cream girl's scheme, then she said she would get everyone else involved, then Junior decided to run his fat mouth, and now her partner for the past...what, five, six years? Whatever. Now, he had been arrested last night while she was too busy spending time at the club!

Neo couldn't help but blame herself partially. After all, Roman _had_ expressed his concerns yesterday morning, but Neo had simply brushed it off.

It was official. Today was not going to be Neo's day.

As she got dressed, Neo tried to force thoughts of Roman out of her mind. 'You'll have to deal with later,' she told herself. 'Since he's gone, you'll be answering to that Cinder chick now...' Normally, Neo would simply attempt to break Roman out, or possibly even go rogue, but there was one thing stopping her. Neo was no coward, and she certainly had more balls than most huntsmen, but even Cinder was a woman she knew she should never cross.

She was fucking terrifying...

And speak of the devil... Another text from Murphy (she was sure that was his name) appeared on the screen of her scroll. Rolling her eyes and picking it up, she skimmed over it. **Cinder wants us to meet ASAP, we're coming to the warehouse now.**

So was this about the 'phase two' thing Roman and Cinder had been talking about? Neo frowned again, typing a quick message in reply. **How fast will you be here?**

Murphy's response came almost instantly. **About ten minutes.**

Neo didn't answer back, instead pocketing her scroll and walking towards the living room where Jaune slept.

Wait...

Wait a second...

 _'Shit fuck!'_ Neo's mind hissed. It was bad enough when Roman had discovered Jaune, but Cinder?! Oh God, that would be like sending the poor boy to the gallows. She burst into the living room, and noticed Jaune wasn't on his couch. 'Where is he?' Neo wondered, teleporting to the kitchen. A quick glance revealed that Jaune wasn't there either. 'Bathroom, maybe?' Suddenly, her scroll received another text message, and she opened it to see it was from the former knight.

 **I went to town to turn in my job application, I'll be back later. ~Jaune**

Well, at least he'd be out of the way...

...

After sending his message to Neo, Jaune took a deep breath and mustered up what little dignity he could. The sign for _Little Penguin's Ice Cream Shoppe_ seemed to be taunting him, that stupid, adorable penguin and its silly grin...

Jaune sighed and entered the shop, walking up to the old man who ran the cashier. He slowly handed his application to the old man, who smiled and accepted it graciously. The old man looked it over with squinted eyes, while the blonde shuffled his feet awkwardly. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, the old man nodded and extended his hand at Jaune.

"If you want, you could start tomorrow." he said.

Jaune was shocked. He was hired?! Granted, it was probably just the old man being desperate for more workers, but he barely had anything good or noteworthy on his application! Shaking himself out of his initial shock, Jaune cracked a small grin and shook the man's hand. "Thank you, sir," he said. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

The old man chuckled. "You might be surprised," he laughed. "Come by at opening time tomorrow, I'll teach you the basics then."

Jaune nodded eagerly, joy and relief washing over him at the thought of an actual job, not some slum garbage just to scrap up some lien. Okay, the job was part time and it was at a sort of lame place, but Jaune was willing to set aside his pride right now. He waved goodbye to the old shop-keep and exited the shop with a bit of a spring to his step.

Whistling a tune, he pulled out his scroll and sent a quick text to Neo. **I got the job!** he typed. **I'm coming back now.**

He didn't have to wait long for the criminal's reply. **Um, actually why don't you hang around town a bit longer? I'm dealing with some private business at the moment. And that's great to hear!**

Jaune raised an eyebrow at the words 'private business', but he decided he wouldn't pry. **Alright.** he responded, before pocketing his scroll. Well... Apparently he had some free time on his hands, although he had no idea how to spend it.

'I can't remember the last time I was in such a good mood,' he thought. 'I only tried to kill myself just a few days ago, it was Neo who-'

Jaune paused his thoughts, then sighed. Neo... He had only met the girl a few days ago, and yet already so much has happened. He appreciated what Neo was doing, he was admittedly being pretty stupid, and Yang had brought up a few good points at Junior's club. But... He still wasn't sure what he was supposed to think about her. On one hand, she saved his life, took him in when no one else would, helped him just find a job... But on the other hand, she was a criminal, and she was just lusting after him.

Lust. What a horrid emotion. Jaune had experienced a lot of lust from people, namely from that bitch Melody. It wasn't something he liked being on the receiving end of, hell, he wasn't sure he could look at someone sexually again.

A part of him wanted to say Neo was just like any other guy or girl who wanted to get in bed with him, but another part of him told him that despite that, she _could_ be trusted. Gah! It was all so confusing! Jaune rubbed his temples. 'You're losing it, Jaune,' he told himself. 'Get a grip, don't let Neo get to you.'

He had been thinking too much lately. It was probably time he stopped dwelling in the shitty part of being a teenager...

He began walking down the streets of Vale, trying to distract himself from thoughts of the criminal who lusted for him. He glanced up, and only then began noticing the various decorations and banners that covered the city. Oh, wow... The boy had been depressed so long he had actually forgotten that the Vytal Festival was arriving. Jaune chuckled lightly as he began to take in all the festive activity from around him, and decided that this would be the distraction he needed.

But it seemed like fate never favored the former Beacon student, as he soon caught sight of three figures walking just in front of him. Ren, Nora, and...Pyrrha.

They had their backs turned, so they had not seen him. They appeared to be in conversation, Pyrrha giggling slightly at something Nora had just said. Jaune gulped, and reached towards them, but stopped himself and sunk into a corner. Wait, no... Why was he hiding? After that heartfelt speech he had given Yang last night...

'I'm still afraid,' he thought. 'Even though I know they won't, I'm still afraid they'd reject me.'

It sort of made sense, he reasoned. Even if he knew it wasn't true, a simple worry could stop a man in his tracks if he allowed it. Taking a deep breath and trying to push the thought of rejection out of his mind, he willed himself to take a step forward.

It didn't work.

Jaune glared down at his feet. "C'mon, move!" he ordered under his breath, but he stood as still as a pole.

'Come on, come on, come on!' Jaune's head hissed. 'Stop being afraid and just move to them. Please, just prove yourself!'

He couldn't, though. He fucking couldn't! Frustration and anger formed inside his chest, and after hitting himself in the face he rushed forward towards his former team...

...only to realize they were already gone.

"Fuck," Jaune growled, his good mood having completely disappeared. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

He stared at the spot where his former team had just been standing, then his eyes went back to his feet. Why did he still have to be scared? He thought he could've been brave, so why had he acted like a deer in headlights?

Grumbling disappointingly to himself, the former knight turned away and dragged his feet away, his shoulders slouching and his hands buried in his jean pockets. He needed a long walk if he was going to calm down... Hopefully Neo wouldn't be too worried if he was gone for a bit longer than she was probably expecting.

Goddammit, he was thinking about her again...

...

 **You planned Roman's arrest, didn't you?**

The amused smirk Cinder let show only confirmed Neo's suspicions. The mute girl had only thought of the possibility a few minutes ago, but knowing Cinder it was probably pretty darn likely.

"Yes and no," the seductive villain answered, leaning back on Neo's sofa a bit. "I admit, the plan did involve his arrest, but I hadn't expected it to happen so soon." Her smirk grew, and Neo barely suppressed a shiver. "It should have been easy for you to rescue him from the four huntresses, but instead you had simply disappeared and left him to his fate. So tell me, Neo, what was _so_ important that you had to leave your partner behind?"

Neo stiffened. 'Shit,' she thought. 'I can't let her find out about Jaune.' She typed another message and hit the send button, and Cinder's own scroll vibrated soon after.

 **That's my own private business, thank you very much.**

She could tell Cinder was putting some of the pieces together, but to her relief the woman decided to drop it. "No matter," she said with a wave of her hand. "Because of Roman's early capture, our plans have been slightly altered. The White Fang has moved our operation to Mountain Glenn, and you are to join them in just a few days."

Neo raised an eyebrow, and motioned for Cinder to get it over with.

"You will be working with the White Fang's leader," Cinder continued. "After the mission down there is done, then we will move on to our third phase." She gave a strange smile. "It will involve setting Roman free, so don't you worry about it."

Well that was a brief relief, at least Neo would be getting her paycheck. Okay, okay, maybe she was being too sarcastic. In truth she owed a great deal to Roman, she would probably be dead without his guidance. He taught her the ways of the streets, how life really worked, and how to overcome it. So yes, she was _a little_ worried about him.

But now wasn't the time for that, thanks to Cinder she would be operating in Mountain Glenn in a few days, and she wasn't even sure what it was for. Despite this, she gave a curt nod in response, and Cinder chuckled in satisfaction. The woman then stood up, as did her lackeys on either side of her.

"Well, that will be all," she said. "We'll let you know when you'll be leaving." They began to walk away, when Cinder stopped and turned back to Neo with an eerily knowing look in her fiery eyes. "Oh, and good luck with whatever toy you've managed to snag."

Neo froze, and she glared at Cinder in confusion. Did... Did Cinder know about Jaune?! No, no... There was no way, only Roman and Junior knew. But if one of them snitched... No, they wouldn't do that. Both knew that would be a death wish, there was no way they would rat out the ice cream themed girl.

"She's just teasing you," a low voice assured, and Neo realized it came from Emerald, who appeared to have noticed Neo's confusion and annoyance. Neo forced a small smile on her face and gave another nod. Emerald nodded back, then followed her two fellow criminals out of the warehouse, leaving the mute alone in the living room.

As soon as they were gone, Neo collapsed on the sofa. 'Okay,' she thought. 'Not the best meeting ever, but it could have gone worse.'

She shuddered at the thought of Jaune getting involved. There was no way a kid with such a fragile psyche (as far as she could tell) would be able to survive Cinder's wrath. So now, she felt like he _was_ going to eventually get involved, whether she liked it or not. It certainly made her plans more difficult...

 _"Jaune,"_ she mouthed, the feeling of his name rolling from her tongue.

She was thinking too hard to realize her heartbeat had increased.

...

 **Took much longer than I was hoping :P Actually passed out halfway through this at one point, and no, that did not result in an endless amount of Z's appearing on my screen. ANYWAY! Neo's *ahem* lifestyle is getting in the way of her plans for Jaune, while the blonde knight himself is still trying to grow a decently sized pair. One day, Jaune... One day, I promise.**

 **Also, thanks for literally making this my... "most" story. Most views, most favorites, most follows, most reviews, most praise, most criticism... IT'S BEAUTIFUL! ...maybe not the criticism part, but whatever. *shrug* Can't please everybody, no sense letting something like that bring you down. If someone doesn't like the story then that's fine, as long as there ARE people who like it then it's never a failure. And yeah... I think there is actually a fair amount of people who enjoy my work...surprisingly enough. (Yeesh, some level of self confidence I have XD)**

 **Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **(Also, be one the lookout for upcoming RWBY stories by me, as well as the second chapter of "The Azure Knight", which I SWEAR will be uploaded tomorrow!)**

 **NEXT TIME: Neo and Jaune go on their second "date", and hopefully Jaune might learn some much needed confidence!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ooooooh boy, there's a lot of people who hate me right now, I can tell. And that is simply because of three reasons: 1. I haven't quite updated in awhile...whoops. 2. The amount of criticism this story receives (which I'm not gonna complain about, considering I can understand why they wouldn't really find this story all that great. I WILL admit that making Jaune a *cough* whore was a bit overboard XD Oh well, too late now.) and 3. I just stole fifty bucks today because I'm a horrible human being.**

 **Anyway, I was thinking about length for this story, and I'm thinking it may reach about twenty seven to thirty something chapters, maybe even as low as twenty (pfft~ Nah). I haven't quite decided yet. Mostly due to me having a crap load of ideas, but I can only follow through with a few of them since some others will not only get me more criticism, but also drive away what fans I do have. So yeah, there goes the tragic suicide ending option...**

 **Oh shit, you weren't supposed to hear that! Whoops! (PS this might be a shorter chapter due to school work piling up on me so please don't kill me! I love each and every one of you! Except you, asshole. Yeah, you know who you are -.-)**

 **...**

"So... You're going away for a bit?"

It was a few days after Jaune's run in with his former team, and he still wasn't happy with himself for not working up the courage to talk to them. After all, he felt like he owed them an apology for acting like such a pussy and letting the slums make him its personal bitch instead of doing the right thing and keeping his promises to everyone. So yeah, he was feeling like a bit of a dick. Thankfully, his new job at _Little Penguin's Ice Cream Shoppe_ was just enough to distract him from his troubles. And now, he was on break, and Neo had decided to take this as an opportunity for another ice cream outing.

Neo nodded as she licked off a layer of her cookie dough ice cream, typing a message into her scroll for the former knight to see. **It has something to do with work. Can't really say much more than that, except that it will take me out of town for awhile.**

Jaune nodded and finished his sundae, pushing back the empty dish with a slight burp. "So how long will you be gone?" he asked, leaning back against his chair and fixing the collar of his shirt. Neo was silent (not a big surprise, considering...well...) for a few moments, deep in thought with her finger tapping her chin in an admittedly adorable manner. Finally, she shrugged and typed yet another message.

 **I really can't say for sure. Might be a few days, might be over a week.**

"Ah..." Jaune sighed and silently watched Neo finish her ice cream cone. So, no matter what... He'd be having the warehouse to himself for awhile. He didn't know whether of not to call that a good thing, or a bad thing.

Okay, considering his luck as of late that could very easily be a bad thing.

 **Something wrong?**

Jaune jumped a little when the small screen was shoved into his face, and he pushed it away in slight annoyance. Why Neo insisted on invading his private space like that was entirely beyond him... Well, maybe not _entirely_ beyond him. Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose before shaking his head, ignoring Neo's almost concerned gaze.

"It's nothing," he assured. "I guess that having the warehouse to myself will be a bit weird." He then shrugged and leaned his head against his propped up hand. "Although it may be a good thing. Some alone time to think might be helpful, now that I think about it."

The mute girl across from him blinked her disguise's deep green eyes and tilted her head in slight confusion. She waved her hand as a sign for the blonde to continue.

"Well, it's just..." Jaune glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck. "A couple of days ago I ran into my old team. I didn't talk to them, I was too scared, although I did regret it later." He then groaned and slammed his face into the table, earning a startled jump from the mute girl. She reached over and lightly patted the boy's head and he began grumbling. Finally, after about a minute his odd noises began to form into understandable words. "I'm an idiot," he hissed. "I was an idiot ever since leaving Beacon. God, I fucking suck right now..."

A tap on his shoulder made him look up, the first thing he saw being the comforting smile she gave him. It was surprising, to say the least. Sure, he knew Neo wasn't a totally bad person, but he didn't expect this level of warmth from her. And then, as if in attempt to further his shock, the ice cream themed girl let her disguise fall, revealing her white, pink, and brown glory.

 **Don't say things like that, Jaune.** Oh yeah, her messages. He had been staring at her so long he forgot to check them. **Everyone makes mistakes, after all.** She then gave an amused smirk. **Though, I guess yours are a lot worse than most cases.**

Aaaand she was back. "I should have known," Jaune mumbled.

 **But in all seriousness, you shouldn't let things like that get to you.** She poked his chest and grinned. **You're a lot better than that, y'know. Sure, you majorly screwed up in the past, but the fact that you're trying to fix your life speaks volumes of how good you are. And if you aren't ready to face your old team yet, then that's fine. After all, we all have different paces for self healing. You'll face them when you're ready, or maybe you'll have to face them before you're ready. And if that's the case, then just pull through it.**

"..." Well, that was actually a very great thing for her to say. "D-Do you really think that?" he asked her, just to be sure. Neo nodded.

 **Of course I do.** She typed. **I know you can do it, Jaune. I have faith in you. Despite what you may think, you're actually a pretty strong person.** She then gave him a flirtatious wink. **It's one of the reasons I like you~**

Jaune's cheeks went slightly red, much to his annoyance. After all, he figured he should used to Neo's flirtations and advances after living with her for a few days.

Then, to add insult to injury, Neo leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips.

Admittedly, it wasn't unpleasant. Although Jaune would likely never admit it, Neo's lips were the softest he had ever felt. Though passionate and lustful, her kisses, no matter how brief, always had a certain layer of gentleness.

When she pulled away, she stood up and stretched her lithe form, typing another message for the former knight. **It sucks that we don't have much time left. My employer is expecting me soon, and you have a shift to finish.**

"Yeah," Jaune agreed as he walked back towards the counter of the shop. He stood behind the cash register and gave her a nod. "Will you at least try to call?"

Neo nodded and held up her scroll. **Of course.** it read. **Though the signal might be low... I'll try my best.**

She walked over and gave Jaune a hug, which he returned. She then gave him another wink accompanied with her signature cat-like smirk, before she suddenly disappeared into thin air, leaving the scraggly employee all alone in an ice cream shop with the _stupidest_ fucking mascot ever.

Sighing, Jaune quickly found himself growing bored as no customers arrived at all. He had only been working for a few days, but he had already discovered something about this shop that almost made him regret ever applying for it.

It was such a small, well hidden shop that he was lucky if a single customer walked in during his entire damn shift! Seriously, why did the old man who ran the shop even put up a help wanted sign if things were always this slow?

'Probably so he could spend his time relaxing instead of running this dinky old place,' the blonde thought as he absentmindedly began tracking the lone fly that buzzed around the shop.

Suddenly, to his surprise, he heard the bell ring as the door opened, signalling that someone had just entered the building. Perking his head up, he forced a smile on his face as he spread his arms in greeting. "Why hello there!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, the woman who had entered turned around and gasped when she saw the boy running the cash register. At the same time, Jaune's smile faded and was replaced by a look of terror.

"Jaune?"

"P-Pyrrha?"

The two stared at each other in silence for the longest time, neither one daring to move or breathe. Even the fly who had buzzing endlessly earlier had fallen quiet. It was as if time completely froze over, leaving behind only the two former friends who now stood facing each other inside a run down ice cream shop. Eventually, however, Neo's earlier advice rang through the former knight's mind, and he scratched the back of his neck as he gave a sheepish grin.

"Would you like to try the banana boat special?"

Pyrrha blinked, before she suddenly leaped over the counter and pulled the boy into a hug that rivaled the strength of Nora, nearly suffocating the poor former Beacon student. "Jaune, I-" Pyrrha buried her face in his shoulder as her shoulders began to shake. "I-I... I missed you so much, Jaune! I thought you were gone forever, but then Nora said she saw you, and then Yang said she saw you, and-"

"I-It's alright, Pyrrha," Jaune said, trying to calm down his former partner. "It's okay...I'm here now."

Suddenly, the spartan girl pulled away, her face suddenly turning into a frown. Then, without Jaune even being able to see it coming, her fist connected with his face, causing him to crumple to the floor with a loud _thud._

"I...guess I deserved that," Jaune groaned in pain.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped as she yanked the boy back up, brushing him off and giving him that same motherly look she gave him back during his days at Beacon. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me!"

"It's alright," Jaune murmured as he checked to make sure his jaw was still okay. "I had it coming, actually."

"But still," the spartan protested. "That isn't a good way to greet an old friend. How can I make it up to you?"

"Try the banana boat special," Jaune joked. "It's actually pretty amazing."

Pyrrha blinked, before she chuckled and nodded. "Alright, then. One banana boat special, please."

"Coming right up!" Jaune announced as he began preparations. "Just pick a seat, I'll join you once it's ready."

"Sounds good!"

'This isn't so bad,' Jaune thought as he began preparing the bananas. 'I thought I would totally freak out, but it's like nothing has changed between us.' He smiled to himself as he crafted the dessert together. 'I guess Pyrrha's just one of those really special friends.'

Finally, once he had finished his work, he carried it over to the table where Pyrrha sat, setting it down next to her before sitting across from her, plucking a cherry from out of nowhere and placing it on top of the special.

Pyrrha thanked him, and Jaune found himself asking her questions about how the gang back at Beacon were doing. Apparently, Blake was being courted by a faunus from Haven named Sun, and Weiss was crushing on that Neptune guy he had met a few days ago. Ren and Nora were still doing the whole "not together-together" act, much to the former knight's disappointment.

Finally, the inevitable happened. "So what happened, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she set aside her banana boat special. "Why the sudden disappearance? Why was Nora so heartbroken when she said she found you?"

"She...didn't tell you?" Jaune questioned as he tilted his head.

"Oh, she told us everything," Pyrrha said. "I just... I need to hear you say it, for any of it to be true."

Jaune sighed and leaned back against his chair. "Well, to start..." He began telling her everything that happened since his expulsion, down to the smallest detail. She absorbed his words in equal parts interest and horror as he described his...less than suitable lifestyle. He noticed how the girl took his hand in hers, and how she would constantly provide it a squeeze of comfort. It made Jaune feel comfortable, and more relaxed.

"...but that's when I met Neo," Jaune continued, not noticing the very brief look of jealousy that crossed Pyrrha's face. "She's a strange one, but she was the first since my expulsion to try to help me. Without her, I wouldn't be here. She gave me a place to stay, a shoulder to cry on, things that you never really get in the slums."

"And...where is she now?"

"Her work required her to go out of town for a few days," Jaune explained, making sure not to make any mention of Neo's criminal life. "I'll be alone for awhile until she comes back."

"I see..." An odd look crossed the girl's face before she asked, "What is she like?"

"Um..." Jaune let himself think for a moment. "Well, she's a bit on the crazy side, but I guess that's part of her charm. She's really short, but in a really adorable way if I had to be honest. She's a bit of a flirt, but so far she's been trying her best to help me-"

"...do you like her?"

Jaune nearly choked on thin air, and he was about to ask whether or not his former partner was joking until he saw the sad look in her eyes. He quickly shook his head in protest. "No!" he exclaimed. "She's just a friend, that's it. Not my type at all, y'know?"

"Well, in that case..." Pyrrha took a deep breath. "Would you mind coming with me to the school dance tomorrow night?"

"...the what?"

"Oh, sorry!" Pyrrha apologized. "You see, I'm sure you've noticed that the Vytal Festival is coming up soon, right?" Jaune nodded, and Pyrrha continued. "Well, the school is hosting a ball of sorts to prepare for it, and the students are allowed to bring whoever they want, so..."

She looked straight into his eyes, her cheeks slowly becoming as red as her hair. "Would you like to go with me?"

Jaune was at a loss for words. On one hand, a chance to dance with his beautiful partner, _Pyrrha freaking Nikos!_ But on the other hand, he wasn't sure he was ready for the inevitable amount of slaps he'd get from the female members of the gang. He was about to try to find a reason to decline, but then Pyrrha placed her hand on his again. Gulping, Jaune glanced back up at Pyrrha, and he knew that there was really only one answer he could provide.

He nodded slowly. "S-Sure..."

Pyrrha lit up like a Christmas tree as he gave his answer. "Really?!" she gasped, as if she could not believe it herself.

Jaune gave another nod. "Yeah..." he said. "It sounds fun, tomorrow, right?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Do you have something to wear?"

Jsune gave a confident grin, just like he always used to. "Of course," he told her. "I'll be ready tomorrow, promise."

Pyrrha then stood up and hugged the blonde boy. "I can't wait," she whispered into his ear, and he had to suppress a shiver as her breath tickled it. She then pulled away and placed some lien on the table. "Well, it was great seeing you again, Jaune!" she said. "I'll see you at the dance tomorrow! Ren, Nora, and the others will be so happy!"

"Can't wait!" Jaune called as Pyrrha exited, waving goodbye.

Sighing happily, Jaune felt like he was walking on air. Finally, _finally!_ Things were going his way! No more would he let the slums control him, no longer would he carry himself with dark shadows of doubt, he was _determined_ to make his life better!

Wait...

Oh shit.

"I don't have anything to wear," Jaune realized as he remembered his lie from literally a minute before. Facepalming himself, he began to rack up ideas on how to obtain a fancy suit for the dance, but he kept drawing up blanks.

That is, until one idea entered his mind...

...

"So let me get this straight," Junior said as he eyed the kid up and down. "Your girl from Beacon just asked you to the dance, and you said yes even though you don't have anything to wear?"

"Yes," Jaune confirmed with a nod.

Junior sighed and shook his head. "You're hopeless, kid," he muttered to himself. "Fine, one of my men is about your size, his should fit you just fine."

...

 **Compared to a lot of chapters from before, this is one I'm actually more satisfied with. So, it looks like Neo is heading to Mountain Glenn, while Jaune has managed to get a date to the dance. Oh, what could _possibly_ go wrong? Who knows? Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **Also, my question of the day for you all: If she comes back (and she will come back don't you dare fucking say otherwise), what are your hopes for Neo in Volume 4?**


	12. Chapter 12

***SCREAMS IN RWBY VOL. FOUR HYPE***

 ***ahem* um...anyway...**

 **So, so, so, so, so, so, SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT! My internet has a very, very stupid habit of faulting out on me .-. And when it IS working, I'm usually too busy to write (like a few days ago when they had me working overtime at work.). Buuuuuut I'm back and with some really good news :D I GOT TO CUDDLE WITH THE CUTEST GIRL TODAY OH MY GOD SHE'S ADORABLE!**

 **Anyway *ahem*, at least the pay my job offers is good. Walked out last night with about one hundred bucks, not bad...not bad at all. And then there's the fact that I'm part of an upcoming play, which is also nice if not the tiniest bit stressful. But without further ado, I present the next chapter for Angel In Disguise!**

 **(Mr. Guest, you thought I was talking about you?! D: No, no, no! Don't say things like that! You're one of my favorite reviewers, after all! Honestly, I was only referring to my sister, who follows this story. It's how we show our affection: by absolutely degrading the other.)**

 **...**

She wondered if she was doing the right thing, talking to Jaune like that.

Neo figured she was, but she was still not fully sure how to _pretend_ to be emotionally invested. When she comforted the former knight at the ice cream shop earlier that afternoon, she was sure that she was saying the right things.

'He really is a good kid,' she thought to herself as she glanced out of the bullhead. 'A bit stupid, but good.'

Not to mention handsome, and sweet, and caring...

Neo felt her cheeks heat up a bit, and she flicked her forehead and shook her head, forcing the thoughts away. Nope. _Nope._ There was no way she was gonna start _actually_ getting attached. Her situation with the kid was only due to a favor for Junior, with hopefully some sex thrown in. At most, it was a future fuck buddies relationship, no personal feelings getting in the way.

"Uh... Miss?" a hesitant voice called out to her.

Neo's head snapped up and she glared at the White Fang grunt who spoke. The grunt gulped and tugged at his collar nervously. No doubt he had heard rumors about what she did to henchmen when they did or said the wrong thing.

She could easily prove those rumors true...

"Uh...um..I.." the grunt stammered as his eyes glanced everywhere except at Neo. "W-We'll be reaching Mountain Glenn shortly. J-Just a few...more m-minutes, miss- MA'AM! Ma'am..."

Neo nodded and returned to her own thoughts. She and a few White Fang grunts were taking a bullhead to Mountain Glenn, the place Cinder mentioned where 'phase two' would happen. Neo still wasn't certain why she had to take a long trip with these terrorist animals, she could've easily teleported there in an instant if someone had just shown her a picture. But noooooo! White Fang has to do everything the _stupid_ way!

She then began to wonder who her new partner for this mission was. Neo briefly wondered if he would be a good lay. Even if he could never truly replace Roman (no one ever could), she thought that there had to be _some_ major bad guy who was better in bed. And God forbid if she ever decided to get it on with one of Roman/Junior's henchmen...

From what Cinder had told her, Neo would be working with a guy named Adam, the leader of the White Fang. And after gathering some information from the stupid grunts surrounding her, he was apparently _extremely_ dangerous, only being second to Cinder.

That really didn't bring up Neo's spirits... After all, she wanted to get on his good side. One slip up, and he could possibly kill her.

But only if he could actually land a hit on her, of course.

Sighing, Neo reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll, deciding to send Jaune a text. She figured he might be a bit lonely, so she could at least entertain him for a few minutes.

 **Hey, cutie ;)** she typed. **Whatcha up to?**

She didn't have to wait long for an answer.

 **Getting a tux from one of Junior's guys.**

Neo blinked and tilted her head in confusion. Tux? As in tuxedo? Why would he need that? Had he already found something to do without her? With all these questions circling in her mind, she typed her response.

 **Oh, neat. Why, though?**

Once again, the answer was almost immediate.

 **I'm going to a dance.** was his reply.

Wait, what? Dance?! Jaune Arc?! Neo didn't know whether she should be proud of the guy or scared for his well being. On one hand, it was Jaune. During the days they spent together, she figured out that he was actually a pretty lovable guy, even some of the goons warmed up to him.

But on the other hand, it was _Jaune._ The guy who was pretty much hopeless on his own, as much as she hated to admit it. Sure, he had a job and he was handling that pretty well, but it was at an ice cream shop that _no one ever visits._ He was practically being paid to sit on his ass all day and nothing else. How the old man who ran the place wasn't going out of business was beyond Neo's understanding.

But, she guessed that she could at least support him with this.

 **Ooooh.** she typed. **Got a date, too? ;)**

She silently giggled, earning a few uncomfortable glances from the surrounding grunts of the White Fang. Oh, she could just imagine him sputtering right now, desperately attempting to deny it as he probably fell off a chair or something.

However, she was not expecting his seemingly calm, quick, confident answer.

 **Yeah, actually. Pyrrha Nikos.**

Now, if Neo had been sipping a drink right then, she definitely would have spat it out. Wait, what?! What?! Jaune Arc was going to a dance with _Pyrrha friggin' Nikos?_ Neo was well aware who Pyrrha Nikos was, having previously lived in Mistral, and she also knew that the girl was Jaune's former partner back in Beacon. So really, she shouldn't have been too surprised. But the news was so sudden, she couldn't help but be shocked!

An unfamiliar feeling stirred in her stomach, one that didn't make Neo feel that comfortable. She frowned and rested her hand on her belly, rubbing it in some attempt to calm herself down. She felt herself grow warm, and not in a pleasant way. A lump formed in her throat, causing her breathing to be thrown off course a little.

 **Neo?** Jaune's text snapped her out of it, and the ice cream girl took a deep breath before responding.

 **Yeah?**

 **Are you okay?** How cute, he was worried about her. Neo's lips twitched into a smile, but it quickly disappeared when she suddenly lost signal. Narrowing her eyes, she tried in vain to send Jaune a message, but no such luck. Sighing in annoyance, Neo pocketed her scroll and leaned back against her seat, folding her arms across her chest and tapping her foot against the floor. She almost chuckled when she saw how frightened the White Fang grunts looked, and they began scooting further away from her out of fear that she may kill them if they were too close.

Well, they weren't entirely wrong...

But Neo was too into her own thoughts to worry about all the faunus idiots around her. She was still caught up in that feeling that she got when Jaune announced he was going to some dance with his former partner.

His _female_ partner.

His absolutely _gorgeous_ female partner.

'Wait...' Neo thought, frowning. 'Am I...jealous?'

Normally she would've scoffed at this and shove it away without another thought. Jealous wasn't a word typically associated with the right hand woman to Roman. Hell, the only time she got jealous was when she saw someone with an ice cream cone on a hot summer day and she had no money. But even then, she could always just _steal_ some, so it was never really an issue.

So, was she jealous? And if so, then why? It wasn't like she had feelings for the boy, the furthest she imagined them going was friends-with-benefits, which was kind of her goal all of this time.

 _"Maybe he won't need you anymore. Maybe your plans will be ruined because he found someone to take care of him instead."_ a voice in the back of her head suggested.

Neo froze as the realization dawned upon her. Of course, that had to be it! Which meant that Pyrrha Nikos was a threat to her plans for the former Beacon student. But then that brings up the questions... What should Neo do about it? The first thing that popped into Neo's head was 'Make her death look like an accident', but she was quick to ditch that plan. She wanted Jaune to feel better, not worse!

Sighing, Neo decided that she would deal with this once her mission was over. As if on cue, just then the bullhead began its descent. Neo glanced out of the bullhead, noting that they have now reached Mountain Glenn. The city was in complete ruins, with what used to be major skyscrapers now reduced to piles of rubble of various sizes. She could see a few lone Grimm wandering throughout the streets, most of them smaller versions of their species' usual size. A large bellow caught her attention, and she turned her head to see a gigantic herd of Goliaths, elephant-like Grimm known for their intelligence and difficulty to kill.

A brief feeling of unease washed over Neo at the sight of the hulking beasts. Hopefully they wouldn't get too close... She may have been confident in her abilities to fight, but she wasn't sure she could defeat a Goliath.

When the bullhead landed, Neo was led by the grunts to what appeared to be a tunnel. Trailing behind them, she soon arrived at a huge cave, so large it could probably fit a city inside.

In fact, it was.

Not much took Neo by surprise, but the sight of this underground city left her in awe. She had heard numerous stories about the fall of Mountain Glenn, but to see its legacy up close right now, it was amazing. Unfortunately, the White Fang grunts didn't seem to share her opinion, as she heard one mutter something that sounded like "Stupid underground piece of shit."

A quick glare from the pint sized terror silenced the grunt almost immediately.

A sudden draft filled the surrounding area, sending a shiver down Neo's neck. Lightly pulling her small jacket closer to her, she spotted an old train in the middle of the streets. It sat there on the tracks, appearing to have been unused for years, possibly decades. It gave off a sinister aura, one that put Neo into a feeling of unease.

She wasn't sure why she seemed so nervous, it wasn't something she usually felt. She glanced around her, noticing the suspicious looks some of the White Fang were sending her way. After all, she was one human among hundreds of human-hating faunus.

Why did Roman have to be an idiot and get himself arrested? This would be a lot less stressful if her partner was here with her. She was confident enough in her abilities to battle her way out of this mess if need be, but the lingering thought of the White Fang's blood thirsty leader presented itself. If Adam was as dangerous as they claimed...

She could always teleport out, right? No one could technically stop her from leaving when she could simply pop in and out of wherever she wanted.

But then she would have to face the wrath of Cinder...

Neo shuddered. Nope... She'll just play it safe.

"Are you Neopolitan?" a gruff voice broke her thoughts, and she looked up to see the _biggest_ faunus she'd ever seen. He wore a Grimm mask like the others, but his covered his entire face, only allowing her to see his pitch black eyes. He had tan skin, and wore a sleeveless white vest with a black shirt underneath. His black hair looked slick and greasy, and he had a black tattoo wrapping around his left arm. Neo's mismatched eyes noted the large chainsaw he wielded, a weapon that made her feel more cautious.

Slowly, she pulled out her scroll and typed a message, before showing it to the intimidating terrorist. **I am.** it said. **Are you Adam Taurus, by any chance?**

The masked faunus shook his head. "Unfortunately, the boss had a few loose ends to take care of, so he isn't here right now," he explained, before extending his hand. "So for now, I'm your partner."

Neo shook it, internally frowning at how big her new partner's hand was compared to hers.

The White Fang soldier chuckled. "You're a lot smaller than I was expecting," he teased. "When I heard the tales of how frightening and deadly Torchwick's partner was, I was expecting something..." He paused, before grinning underneath his mask. "Bigger. And less colorful."

Neo wasn't sure whether or not this was meant to be an insult, but she glared at him despite this. The Lieutenant wasn't fazed, in fact he almost seemed pleased by her reaction. "I see why all my brothers fear you," he said. "But I'm not afraid of you, Neopolitan." He shook his head. "No, no...Just the opposite." She could've sworn he licked his lips beneath his mask. "In fact, I think I'll end up enjoying your company."

'He really lacks originality,' Neo thought as she was unimpressed by the Lieutenant's advances. She could feel his lustful eyes traveling up and down her body, taking in every curve and shape. Normally Neo would've been turned on by this. Her new 'partner' seemed handsome enough, in a mysterious way. But there were two things that stopped this reaction: She already had her plans for Jaune, and the Lieutenant seemed like the type of guy who always had to be the dominant in bed.

Kinda like Roman, now that she thought about it.

Sighing, she typed another message into her scroll and showed it to the Lieutenant. **So mind telling me what exactly I'm here for? What's the plan Cinder has?**

The Lieutenant gestured to the train behind them. "You're looking at it," he told her. Noticing Neo's raised eyebrow, he continued explaining. "I'm sure you're aware of the history of this place, right?"

Neo nodded.

"Well, turns out that these tunnels they built lead straight to Vale," he said. "But, after Mountain Glenn was overrun the government decided to seal off the tunnels. Our plan is to open them back up."

Neo nodded, before slowly putting two and two together. **Are you seriously planning on crashing the train full speed into the end of the tunnel? You know that's suicide, right?**

"We'll be fine," her partner stated confidently. "We wouldn't be doing this unless we could ensure the lives of our men." His eyes narrowed. "Besides, that's only half of the plan."

Neo perked up, silently telling him to continue. The Lieutenant chuckled darkly and pointed to two of his men, who were struggling to carry some sort of large...explosive? "We'll be placing one of those on every car except for the front ones," he told her. "Every now and then, we'll release one just before it detonates. The impact of the explosion will cause a large hole to appear on the top of the tunnel, one big enough for several Grimm to squeeze into. We create more holes, the Grimm keep coming. Eventually, when our train crashes at the end of the tunnel, it will cause a breach that will allow all of the Grimm to storm right into Vale."

Well, Neo had to admit that did sound like one hell of a plan, one that had decent chance of working. From What the ice cream girl knew, Cinder was attempting to break apart the kingdoms into some sort of cold war or something like that, and a breach would help ignite that almost instantly! She could see it now, all those Grimm tearing apart the citizens... It was gruesome, but to Neo, the citizens were faceless beings who didn't matter. In her imagination, she saw a large beowolf, a _huge_ beowolf! She saw it stalk towards its cornered prey, the look on Jaune's face on of pure terror...

Wait...Jaune?

Neo's eyes widened as the realization struck her like a brick. _Jaune!_

If the Grimm were in Vale, and she was on board a train, Jaune... No, no, no... Neo took a deep breath to calm herself down. Jaune could handle himself, right? Plus, all of his friends were hunters in training, they would protect him, right?

Still... The thought of Jaune being in danger because of her was a haunting one. If Jaune got hurt...it would be her fault... She wondered if she would be able to forgive herself if the worst happened.

"Neopolitan?" the Lieutenant called out, waving his giant hand in front of her face.

Neo blinked in surprise and glanced at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You were spacing out.

Neo didn't answer immediately, but when she did it was a hesitant nod. If the Lieutenant noticed, he didn't point it out. Instead he just grunted, and turned around. Walking towards the train, he motioned for the tiny assassin to follow him.

Neo hesitated, before sighing and shaking her head. She followed, keeping her eyes to the ground as she ignored the nervous and/or suspicious looks she recieved from the White Fang grunts.

'Jaune...' she thought.

She hoped he would be safe from the breach. She wasn't ready to lose someone she cared about.

...

 **Neo cares about Jaune! :D Yay! Anyway, this chapter mostly acts as set-up, as well as a tad bit of insight into Neo's thoughts towards everyone's favorite dork once again. Not my favorite chapter, but I felt like it was necessary to crank out. Really sorry it took so long! And yeah, no dance this chapter :/ That's NEXT chapter, so be looking forward to that! How will Jaune handle being back at Beacon? Will he be able to make peace with his friends and with himself? Maybe. Maybe not.**

 **ALSO RWBY VOLUME FOUR IN LIKE THREE DAYS I'M GOING APE-SHIT!**

 **Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, first of all... Good lord I am so sorry for my slow updates! My schedule is almost always completely filled due to either my play or the fact that I'm also part of an indie film now. It's a sweet deal for both, since acting is my passion, but goddamn does it get annoying when I don't have any time to write.**

 **Welp, let's see how much I can crank out this time! Quick recap of last chapter: Neo goes to Mountain Glenn and meets her new partner, while Jaune is getting ready for the upcoming dance. Aaaaand guess what this chapter will be about :D Will Jaune not make a fool of himself? Will he be able to confront his friends? Will he find the courage to forgive himself? Will he get laid by Neo? Read on and find out!**

 **Also, did anyone else start watching episodes of RWBY Volume Four? (I mean, I assume you all did considering the fandom we're a part of...) FUCKING AMAZING! And for those of you still stuck as a lowly peasant of YouTube, you can watch episodes just twenty four hours after its release with a free account! Sure you gotta deal with a couple ads, but it's still a better deal than paying twenty bucks a month. (Or at least that's my opinion.)**

 **And yes, I did just use my fanfiction to shamelessly advertise Volume Four and free Rooster teeth :P Whatcha gonna do 'bout it, huh?**

 **...**

Somehow, Beacon seemed a lot more majestic since the last time Jaune was there. Maybe it was because this time, he wasn't a huntsman in training, he was just plain old Jaune Arc. The school seemed bigger, more intimidating, and the blonde almost considered turning back. He didn't feel like he should be here, he felt like an intruder. But he knew that no matter what, he couldn't...wouldn't turn back. Why?

Because it was Pyrrha who invited him, of course. His kind, caring, beautiful, intelligent, talented partner during his days as a student here. He knew he couldn't turn her down, he needed to set things right. If he didn't reconnect with his friends tonight, Jaune honestly doubted he would ever work up the courage to try again, even if Neo herself tried to drag him towards it.

Speaking of Neo, Jaune began to wonder what the ice cream girl's job was this time. She said it would take her out of the kingdom for a few days, and that was all she mentioned. He hoped she would be alright, whatever her mission was.

Jaune took a deep breath as he stared at the hunter academy before him, adjusting his bow tie for the umpteenth time that night. 'Stay calm, Jaune,' he told himself. 'You can do this, the dance is right over there. Just go in there and find Pyrrha.'

He could already see plenty of couples entering the ballroom, and he could've sworn he saw Blake being escorted by a blonde man with a monkey tail. Some of the students gave him odd looks, as if they recognized him as the guy who got expelled. Forcing himself to ignore the stares, Jaune straightened his suit once more before making his way towards the ballroom.

He reminded himself to thank the goon who lent him the suit. It felt comfortable (mostly) and was pretty snazzy as well. Probably the most stylish thing he ever wore.

He passed a gray haired boy and a green haired girl, who each looked at his suit with some form of recognition. The girl turned to her date and whispered something, but the boy just shrugged and nodded his head at Jaune. Jaune returned the nod, and then he threw open the doors to the ballroom.

Immediately he was greeted by a cheerful Yang, who wore a beautiful white dress and had her signature grin stuck to her face. "Well, well, well," she said, clicking her tongue as she looked him up and down. "Look who decided to show up. Looking fresh, vomit boy." She tapped her chin in thought. "Although that suit _does_ seem a bit familiar."

"It belongs to one of Junior's boys," Jaune explained, scratching the back of his neck as his eyes wandered around the various dancers. "Um... Is Pyrrha around? She's the one who invited me..."

Yang nodded her head towards a staircase leading to the roof. "She's right up there," she said. Jaune thanked her, and was about to head up when the buxom blonde's hand gripped his forearm. Turning around, he saw that Yang had a serious look in her violet eyes, and a stern frown that suggested that he better do whatever she said. "Listen, Jaune," she started. "Before you go up there, you should find our friends and apologize to them, understand? They deserve one, after the bullshit you pulled off."

Jaune nodded his head, his eyes just as serious. "I will, I promise," he assured, before he sheepishly grinned. "I'm gonna be slapped by one of them, aren't I?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Just one?"

The former sighed and tugged at his collar. "Yeah, I see your point," he muttered. Yang smirked in satisfaction, before patting her fellow blonde on the back.

"Good to have you back, Jaune," she said, before turning to greet the gray and green couple from earlier.

Jaune's blue eyes scanned the area, searching for one of his friends to speak to. The first he noticed was Weiss, his old crush from his starting days at Beacon. Ruby was with her as well, with Ren and Nora dancing not far off. "You can do this," Jaune whispered to himself, before inching closer to the girls.

However, a familiar voice, one Jaune wasn't really all that fond of, sounded from behind him. "Well, well," it said, words laced with a sarcastic glee. "If it ain't Jauney Boy."

A familiar feeling of inferiority rushed over Jaune, and he slowly turned around to face his former tormentor. "H-Hey, Cardin," he greeted with an awkward wave.

Cardin chuckled, throwing his arm roughly over Jaune's shoulder. "So what are you doing back in Beacon?" he asked. "Didn't you expelled or something? It had something to do with fake transcripts, right?"

Jaune gulped and nodded, and Cardin laughed again. "Talk about tough luck," he taunted, poking his finger into his victim's ribs. "And there I was thinking about all the fun I could've had holding that blackmail over your head." He sighed and shook his head. "Too bad someone beat me to the punch."

"Wait..." Jaune blinked and wriggled himself out of the bully's grasp. "Are you saying you _weren't_ the one who ratted me out?"

He would've laughed if that almost insulted look belonged on a face that wasn't Cardin's.

"Of course it wasn't me!" Cardin hissed. "Christ, Jauney Boy! Which do you think I'm more likely to do? Rat you out or hold your lies over your head as blackmail?"

Jaune was silent for a few moments. Honestly, he had always thought that it was the leader of Team CRDL that tipped off Ozpin. After all, he hated JAune enough to do it. But when he really thought about it, it really _did_ go against his character... Jaune sighed. "The latter," he murmured.

Cardin nodded. "So yeah, don't go trying to blame me for this," he warned. "Just because you don't attend here anymore doesn't mean you're safe from my mace."

Jaune nodded, and Cardin left with nothing more than a grunt, before muttering something under his breath. The blonde knight watched thr bully disappear back into the crowd, before turning around to continue his approach...

...only to find Weiss staring right at him, her face only inches from his. Behind her, Ruby stood with her head down, shuffling her feet nervously. Jaune gave a small yelp and shifted back, which the heiress reacted to with an eye roll. She then looked past Jaune's shoulder, a frown forming. "So if it wasn't Cardin, then who was it?" she asked, mostly to herself. She then turned back to Jaune, her eyes hardened and cool. "Jaune," she greeted.

"H-Hey..." Jaune returned the greeting with an awkward wave.

And suddenly, the snow angel's hand connected to his cheek with a harsh slap, nearly knocking the poor blonde to the floor. Fortunately, he managed to catch his balance, and he watched Weiss give a satisfied hum as the knight rubbed his jaw tenderly.

"I deserved that," he mumbled through the pain.

Then he felt two tiny fists pummel against his chest, and he looked down to see Ruby punching him repeatedly. The punches didn't really hurt, apparently Ruby wasn't that strong without her scythe to back her up.

...was it wrong to say she looked absolutely adorable right now..?

The girl then looked up at him, and Jaune could've sworn something inside him broke. The girl looked like her dog just died, tears streaming out.

Jaune bit his lip. "Ruby, I-"

"...you jerk," Ruby murmured, wiping her eyes and sniffling. "You said that you would call us after you left, that we'd all have fun together. You _promised,_ Jaune! And then..." She glanced away from him, wiping away the last of her tears before facing him again. "You _broke_ that promise. I thought an Arc never went back on his word?"

Jaune nodded. "I know, Ruby," he murmured. "And I'm really sorry, I was in a really bad place after being expelled." He took a deep breath before giving the younger girl a reassuring smile. "But I'm doing a lot better now. Thanks to a friend I met, I've been able to get back on my feet, and this time I'm not gonna turn my back on you." He glanced up, noticing that Weiss, Blake, Ren, and Nora were listening to the conversation, and were staring at him expectantly. Jaune grinned. "Any of you," he finished.

Weiss nodded, accepting his words. "I hope so," she said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost missed your flirting."

"Well then, snow angel-"

"I said _almost,_ " the heiress hissed, glaring icy blue daggers at the former knight.

Blake, as due to her usual quiet self, gave Jaune a simple smile in greeting. Ren and Nora stepped closer towards their former leader, and Ren placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"It's good to see you again, Jaune," he greeted in his calm as ever tone. "Honestly, I was wondering if you would actually show up." He then sighed, leaned in, and whispered something into Jaune's ear. "Nora has been a wreck ever since you were expelled," he mentioned. "I suggest you talk to her before meeting with Pyrrha."

Jaune nodded in agreement, giving Ruby a hug before making his way to his former teammate.

Nora was staring at her feet when Jaune approached, attempting to look him in the eyes.

"Nora..."

The ginger girl glanced up, turquoise eyes meeting ocean blue. She gulped. "...Yeah, Jaune?"

Suddenly, the hammer wielder was pulled into a loving hug, catching her by surprise. "Jaune..wha-"

"I'm really sorry," her former leader murmured. "I was a jerk to everyone, but you most of all. I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did, I shouldn't have turned you away. Can you ever forgive me?"

He pulled away, taking a breath as he waited for Nora's answer. The girl seemed to be thinking about it, tapping her chin as she turned her eyes to the ceiling. Jaune scratched the back of his neck, briefly glancing towards Ren. The stoic ninja gave his former leader a curt nod, before gesturing him back to Nora.

Jaune looked back at the ginger, who was now smiling brightly up at him. She raised her pointer finger, and lightly pressed it against Jaune's nose. "Boop." she said simply, causing the former knight to chuckle.

"Woohoo!" a new voice cried out, and everyone turned around to look at a celebrating Sun. "Looks like this is a happy ending!"

Blake rolled her eyes and led the monkey faunus away from the group. "C'mon, Sun, let's go," she suggested, before turning back to Jaune with a ghost of a smile. "It's nice to see you again, Jaune."

"Likewise, Blake."

After the two faunus left, Jaune turned the others, pointing towards the staircase. "Uh...I'd love to stay and chat, guys, but I kind of have a date waiting for me." he explained.

"Well hurry along," said Weiss. "We all still have much to talk about."

"I know," Jaune replied, glancing away briefly. He took a deep breath before making his way up the stairs, waving to his friends. "Wish me luck, guys."

"Good luck," Ruby called, waving.

Jaune nodded his thanks and made his ascent to the roof. As he neared Pyrrha's location, he began to think about their relationship.

He always had the suspicion that the invincible girl was crushing on him, and the kiss she gave him right before he left Beacon only confirmed it. And now here he was, attending a dance with her. For most, this was a dream come true, Jaune included. He had feelings for Pyrrha as well, and to finally be with her again filled him with a feeling of joy.

He wondered what Neo would think about all this.

The former knight paused before shaking his head. What did it matter what Neo thought? This didn't involve her. While he was grateful for everything the pint sized criminal had done for him, Jaune told himself he was glad that Neo would be gone for a couple of days. A guy can only take so much sexual harassment at a time...

Still, now that Neo was in his head, it was unlikely that she would leave. It was a terrible habit Jaune had, and he tried his best to push her to the back of his mind as he finally reached the roof.

When he saw Pyrrha, he froze, his eyes widening. The Mistral native was wearing a beautiful red dress, one that showed off her form and grace quite well. Her signature crown was still atop her head, and the shattered moon's light bathed her in an angelic glow.

"Wow..." Jaune breathed, catching Pyrrha's attention. "You're beautiful."

Pyrrha turned her head towards her former partner, smiling at his words. "Thank you, Jaune," she said, looking him up and down. "You're quite handsome tonight."

Jaune chuckled lightly and glanced away briefly. "Borrowed this from a friend," he explained, tugging at his tuxedo.

Pyrrha nodded, before turning her attention to the shattered moon. "Tonight is so beautiful," she breathed.

"Not as beautiful as you."

Jaune froze when the words came out of his mouth, worried that he may have said the wrong thing. But he was filled with relief when he saw the faint blush and smile on the Mistral champion's face. "Thank you, Jaune," she murmured, before gesturing for him to stand next to her. The former did did so, and Pyrrha continued speaking. "Seriously, thank you for everything."

"Huh?" her partner grunted. "But I never did anything."

Pyrrha shook her head. "You know, for the longest time I've had to deal with the fame I was given," she confessed. "And for the longest time it was impossible to form a meaningful friendship with anyone; I was put above everyone else, and I was never allowed to step down." Her hand reached for Jaune's. "But then you came along. You treated me just like everyone else, and because of you I was able to make so many friends here at Beacon." She smiled fondly and listed them off. "Ren, Nora, Ruby, Yang...everyone."

"...and it was really because of me?" Jaune asked, turning to face the girl.

Pyrrha nodded. "It is, Jaune," she clarified. "Thank you so much."

A small grin cracked onto Jaune's face. "And here I was wasting my life away for a month straight," he muttered lightly.

Pyrrha took his hand again, and began to lead him back towards the ball. "Well you won't have to anymore," she told him. "We're all here for you, Jaune." She began pulling on him a little harder. "Now c'mon!" she urged. "We don't want to keep everyone waiting!"

...

This dance was the fucking worst.

Russel Thrush sighed in annoyance as he hid behind the punch table, watching the rest of the guests dance away happily. He didn't even know why he agreed to come to this stupid thing! Grumbling, the rough 'n' tough member of Team CRDL tugged at the collar of the uncomfortable tux Dove forced him to wear. This was officially the shittiest night of his life, and he would do anything to get out of here.

Arc's sudden surprise return didn't help things either. Glancing over, Russel caught sight of the former knight waltzing with that Nikos chick. Russel scoffed and sneered, turning away from the sight. Gods, that punk got on his nerves!

Russel thought back to when he left that anonymous tip about Arc's fake transcripts. Yeah, Cardin may have thought he was the only one who overheard that rooftop conversation, but Russel heard it too. The dagger wielding teen clenched his fists.

It wasn't fair! Russel, along with every other kid in this school, worked their asses off getting where they were now! No way he was gonna let some undeserving bastard get some of the share!

And the fucker was back...

Sighing, Russel looked around for a way to entertain himself, because he knew his teammates would kill him if he left. Catching sight of Sky, Russel suddenly remembered something, and a wickedly good idea popped into his head.

Sky was talking to Velvet Scarlatina of all people when Russel approached him. From what the smaller teen could tell, Sky was attempting to apologize for something.

"...I just want to say one last time that I'm very sorry for all the mean things I said about you," he was saying.

Velvet smiled and nodded. "It's okay," she assured him, before she saw Russel strutting towards them.

"Sky," said Russel. "Still got that flask?"

"Huh?" Sky questioned, before remembering what his teammate was talking about. "Oh! Um...yeah?"

"I need it."

Sky and Velvet shared a look. "Why...?" Sky pressed, raising an eyebrow.

"We're at a party, there's a punch bowl, and I'm asking you for the flask," Russel deadpanned. "The hell do you think I want it for?"

It took a moment for Sky to put the pieces together.

"Oh goddammit, Russel..."

...

 **Russel about to spike some punch XD And yep! He's the guy who ratted out Jaune. So next chapter will continue with the dance, as well as some... M rated action ;D Also, yeah I know I'm pushing some Arkos, but this still remains a Jaune x Neo fanfic. I'm just...adding some drama?**

 **So sorry this took so long! I promise it won't take nearly as long last time! Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I will not make Jaune Arc a criminal. I will not make Jaune Arc a criminal. I WILL NOT MAKE JAUNE ARC A CRIMINAL! So for the love of Jesus, please stop requesting that Jaune somehow becomes a villain XD This story is already cliche enough as it is, I don't need super edgy crime too! This is a story about a guy in the dumps meeting a hot chick, guys :P A very horny hot chick who may or may not be developing genuine feelings for the guy.**

 **Also, POKEMON SUN AND MOON IS OUT OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! Time to bust out some Pokemon fanfics after this, gotta create some OC's and some epic teams, couple grass types here and there...Catch a Drowzee because goddammit, Hypno's great...Gotta work on a Pokemon/RWBY crossover... (Just kidding...Unless you guys would actually like to see that O_O That's it, I'm writing one! NO ONE CAN STOP MEEEEE)**

 **And thanks to all the positive reviews the last chapter received! The guests were surprisingly nice, which is weird since guests have a history of wanting to kill me XD Of course, some of you may have been sarcastic, but I'll just continue to believe I'm actually loved.**

 **Also I need to delete some stories or put them up for adoption, because lord knows I'm not getting them done :'( It's sad, but sometimes you just don't get the motivation no matter how hard you try, y'know?**

 **Oh well, enough of that... Enjoy the chapter, everyone!**

 **(Psst~ There's also a super important question at the end that you all have to answer!)**

 **...**

She tried, and she failed... No matter how much she tried to stop it, all day long Neo had thoughts of Jaune in her head. For whatever reason, the boy refused to leave, making it rather difficult to focus on many of her tasks. Twice she nearly gotten the same faunus killed (Dorky, or something?), and her new partner wasn't very happy. In fact, underneath that Grimm mask she could've sworn he actually had veins bulging out.

And now here she was, forced to bed early without dinner like some bratty little kid. Neo considered killing the White Fang Lieutenant, who she was now officially calling "WFL", but she was forced to decide against it. It was becoming a problem, she noticed. There were so many people she wanted to murder, but all of them were way too useful at the moment. Sighing, the petite criminal collapsed on her makeshift bed, throwing the covers over herself.

'Jaune...'

Neo shook her head and slapped herself. 'Dammit,' she internally hissed. 'It's his fault I'm in this mess! Stupid thoughts...'

She wondered how the former knight was handling himself right now. Was he doing okay? Was he having fun? Was he treating Pyrrha right? Was Pyrrha treating _him_ right? Neo frowned, that familiar sense of jealously returning for the second time that day. Ugh, if Pyrrha Nikos even laid a _finger_ on Jaune... Somehow Neo's frown grew bigger. She hated this feeling of jealousy, and she hated that it involved Jaune.

She was just keeping him around as a favor to Junior, right? A simple favor, with some sex thrown in whenever she actually managed to seduce him. (She had to admit, the kid was good at blocking her advances.) Neo forced herself to keep telling herself that, her eyes squeezing shut. 'Just a favor, just a favor.'

'Jaune...'

UGH! Neo comically flailed around in frustration, throwing her covers across the room, which was really just a boxcar. 'Dammit, dammit, dammit!' she mentally screamed, burying her face into her pillow. 'Why now? Why today?' She bit her lip. It was as if the moment someone else entered the picture, she grew jealous... Was this normal? Neo couldn't answer. She thought it was, but her lack of a...decent childhood left her unsure.

A familiar wetness formed between her legs, causing Neo to squeeze them shut. 'Not now!' she thought. Normally this would be her cue to start furiously masturbating, but the last thing she needed right now was a faunus catching scent of her arousal. Barely stopping a low groan from forming, Neo stood up from bed and walked across the boxcar to retrieve her covers.

'Jaune...'

Neo sighed heavily through her nostrils. Fine, fine fine! _Maybe_ she was a crushing on the former Beacon student. A small crush, however, nothing to extreme. Nothing that went past arousal and admitting her was quick attractive...and kind, caring, pretty funny too...

The ice cream girl blinked, before throwing her hands up in defeat.

'Fuck my life,' she thought. 'Things used to be so much more simple.'

She flopped down onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow.

'Maybe...I should go see him,' she thought. She bit her lip. 'Should I? Would he mind? Would he be happy with that?'

Not giving it much more thought than that, Neo stood up and made her decision with a quick activation of her semblance. Stretching and showing off her black schemed disguise to no one in particular, Neo closed her eyes and envisioned the courtyard of Beacon Academy, before concentrating with all her might. While the distance was doable, it required a lot of her aura. She figured she would have just enough to arrive at Beacon and come back once she was done.

A tingling sensation rushed through her body, and when the mute opened her eyes she saw herself right in front of the beautiful school. Grinning, she suddenly collapsed out of exhaustion, kneeling for a minute to catch her breath. 'Ouch...' she grimaced as she stood up.

Her grin quickly returning, the ice cream criminal turned back to Beacon, smoothing out her disguise's outfit. Silently humming a small tune to herself, she practically began to skip towards the school, eager to see Jaune once again.

...

It took one hell of a long time, but Russel _eventually_ convinced Sky to lend him the flask. The "L" of Team CRDL did not approve of Russel's idea in the slightest, but the mohawked teen couldn't care less. This ball was boring as fuck, and unless his team wanted to see him become a rampaging mad man, he was going to make it interesting!

As he inched his way closer to the punch table, he scanned for anyone that could be watching him. The last thing he needed was to be ratted out to Goodwitch. God knew he didn't want to ever experience that woman's wrath again...

However, the coast was clear. Goodwitch was too busy dancing with the general, Port and Oobleck were laughing over some stupid story, and Ozpin was...

Russel froze when he made eye contact with the headmaster, who stood at the other side of the ballroom with cane in hand. Ozpin merely raised an eyebrow, but didn't make any move to stop Russel. Eventually, Ozpin turned away, heading towards the direction of...Arc? Russel grinned. Oh, how he hoped Ozpin would chew that punk out... 'It would serve him right,' he thought. 'He never belonged here.'

Not wasting another second, Russel opened the flask and quickly poured all the liquid inside into the punch, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking. After the flask had been completely empty, Russel grabbed himself a plastic cup and poured himself some of the spiked punch. He gulped it down, letting out a satisfied sigh after swallowing.

He seriously hoped that Arc would drink some of that stuff. The stupid blonde making a complete ass out of himself would be just the right amount of entertainment he'd need. His work now done, Russel walked away from the spiked punch, eager to see what may happen.

...

Things were going really, really well. It was kind of strange, but Jaune didn't mind. Because after a month and a fucking half of nothing but misery and angst, he was more than happy to welcome some good times. Currently, he had just finished dancing with Pyrrha, and was now surrounded by all his friends, making good conversation with them all.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Yang cut in, shaking her head in disbelief as she tried (and failed) to hold in her snickering. "You work at a joint called _'Little Penguin's Ice Cream Shoppe'_?"

Jaune's face flushed red as the entire group burst into laughter. He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well if you're all just gonna laugh," he muttered. "I just won't give any of you discounts..."

Ruby and Nora felt something shatter when he said that. Immediately they bowed, the attractive asses sticking out in an accidentally suggestive way. "We're sorry!" they both apologized. "We're sorry! We're sorry!"

Jaune smiled and patted both of them on the head. "You two don't get discounts," he told them. Their mouths fell open in disbelief, before he added, "I guess you'll both just get ice cream for free."

The two hyperactive huntresses beamed at his words, instantly tackling him with hugs that could crush a goliath.

"Ugh," Weiss scoffed as she yanked the two off of the former knight. "You two are _so_ immature!"

"But Weeeeeiss," Ruby whined. "This is the first time we've seen Jaune in forever! Just let us enjoy this, please?!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, turning to talk to Neptune instead.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Pyrrha announced, surprising Jaune with a quick peck on the cheek before she walked away. Jaune blushed and brought his hand up to his cheek.

"Awww," Yang cooed, throwing an arm around her fellow blonde's shoulder. "Vomit boy's in love!"

Jaune frowned and wrestled his way out of the bombshell's grasp. "Cut it out," he hissed. "She's my best friend, that's all!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah," she sighed. "You're into tiny criminals, huh?"

"What?" Ren wondered, overhearing.

"What are you talking about?!" Jaune cried out, his face now _very_ red.

"Well I''m just calling it how I see it," said Yang. "After all, she seemed pretty damn comfortable being on top of you."

Blake raised an eyebrow, wondering who the hell these two were talking about. Apparently, the two blondes failed to notice that _everyone_ in the group could hear them.

"She's just really flirtatious, that's all!"

"Yeah, but how do you feel about her?"

"I don't know! She's nice?"

"Details, Jaune! Details!"

"Well I guess she's my friend..."

A pause. "Good God, you're hopeless."

"What?" Jaune blinked.

Yang waved it off. "Whoever you like is none of my business," she said. "It's your love life, Jaune."

"What love life?" Jaune argued. "I don't have feelings for Neo, I swear!"

"And yet you're living with her?" Yang smirked as Jaune froze, knowing she had him in her grasp.

"Um, guys..." Ruby's small voice piped up, startling the two. They turned and faced the younger girl, who had a slight blush. "What are you two talking about?" she asked.

"Vomit Boy's girlfriend, of course!"

"YANG!" Jaune protested.

"Mr. Arc."

Everyone whipped around to see Professor Ozpin standing before them, an amused smile on his face. "May I speak with you?" he asked. Jaune gulped, and nodded. His friends said farewell, then scattered about to leave the former student with the headmaster.

Ozpin stared after the departing students. "It's quite nice, having friends like that," he commented. "It makes me wish I could enroll you once more, Mr. Arc."

Jaune blinked, and he soon became hopeful. "Can you?" he asked, glancing up at the professor.

Ozpin shook his head. "Unfortunately, I cannot," he said. "The council would never allow it, and I could very well be removed of my position and sent away." Jaune noticed a dark look briefly cast itself over Ozpin's eyes. "I can't afford that," he whispered. "Not yet."

"Professor Ozpin...?"

Ozpin blinked and shook his head before turning back to the boy. "My apologies, Mr. Arc," he said. "Now, why don't you tell me how things have been since your expulsion. I have to admit I'm highly curious."

"It..." For a moment Jaune wanted to lie. He wanted to say that everything had been perfectly fine, but somehow he knew that he couldn't lie to Ozpin. His mind wouldn't allow it. Taking a deep breath, Jaune made his decision to tell the truth. "To be perfectly honest, sir, it's been awful," he murmured, not noticing the look of concern that flashed across Ozpin's face. "I..I did some things that I shouldn't have done..."

Ozpin lead Jaune over to a row of chairs, sitting him down before taking the seat next to him. "Would you like to tell me?" he asked.

Jaune shook his head. "I...can't..." he whispered, bad memories returning to him. His mind flashed back to Melody, the faunus he had often sold himself to. He shuddered and shook the memory out of his head. Instead of Melody, the image was replaced with Neo. An unfamiliar feeling passed through Jaune as he recalled how the girl took him in when no one else would. How despite her...tendencies, she was genuinely a good person. How she trusted him enough to tell her about her tragic past... The way she strutted around with confidence, that beautifully playful smirk that was always on her face...

"Mr. Arc?"

Jaune blushed and shook those thoughts away too. 'No, bad Jaune,' he scolded himself. He turned to Ozpin, offering a faint smile. "But I'm doing a lot better," he explained. "I met someone who helped me get back on my feet, I'd probably be dead without her."

Ozpin stared at the boy for a few seconds, before a knowing smirk crossed his face. "I'm glad to here it," he told him before rising to his feet. "Well, I won't be taking up any more of your time." He gestured his cane in front of him. "It seems Miss Nikos wants you."

Jaune glanced in the direction the headmaster pointed, now noticing that Pyrrha was walking towards him with a sway in her hips, something off about her eyes. Gulping, Jaune stepped towards his date and took her arm gently. "Pyrrha, are you alright?" he asked.

Pyrrha looked at him blankly, before suddenly she broke into a grin. "Jaune~" she cooed. "I really, _really_ love you..."

Jaune blushed heavily."P-Pyrrha?!" he stuttered.

"Shhhh..." the Mistral champion shushed, placing a finger on his lips. "Just...stop talking..."

Then she leaned in and placed her lips on his. Jaune's eyes widened, and he immediately smelled alcohol on her. 'Oh God,' he thought. 'Was the punch spiked?!'

"...!" A choked gasp from behind caught his attention, and he managed to break free from Pyrrha's lips for a split second to glance behind him. However, he saw nothing. Well, nothing except the brief glimpse of a small figure pushing through the crowd in hurry.

"Jaune~"

Jaune sighed and pushed Pyrrha away gently. "Pyrrha, you're drunk," he told her. Knowing he couldn't just leave her here, Jaune decided the best course of action would be to take her back to Team JNPR's dorm. "C'mon, let's go," he ordered as he began to lead Pyrrha back to the dorms.

It proved to be very annoying, as Pyrrha kept stumbling and trying to lock lips with him, but eventually Jaune managed to get her back to her room safe and sound. He gently laid the girl in her bed before throwing the covers over her. He turned around to leave when suddenly, Pyrrha grasped his hand.

"Don't go..." she murmured, yanking him closer. This action caused the former knight to trip and fall onto Pyrrha's bed with a startled yelp. The moment he landed, the warrior was on top of him, her hands fumbling with the zipper of his pants.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune protested. "Stop!"

He internally groaned when he felt his cock harden, cursing his male instincts for betraying him. Pyrrha also noticed this, and she eagerly pulled the former knight's pants off with a grin. "I don't think you want me to stop, Jaune."

"Pyrrha..." Jaune tried to say, but he was cut off my his boxers being yanked down, revealing his hardened member to Pyrrha.

"Oh my!" Pyrrha gasped as her hand wrapped around Jaune's dick, slowly pumping her hand up and down. "So handsome~"

Jaune moaned softly at the feeling of Pyrrha's hand, his common sense being completely thrown out the window. If her hand felt this good, what must her mouth feel-

His thought process was destroyed when he felt Pyrrha's tongue flick his head, and he glanced down to observe. Pyrrha looked up at him with lust filled eyes, slapping his dick against her tongue before fully engulfing him in her mouth.

"...Fuck!" Jaune gasped, instinctively placing his hands on the top of her head. He pushed down slightly, forcing Pyrrha to take more into her mouth. The champion didn't seem to mind, as she moaned sweetly when he did so.

Pyrrha's tongue swirled around Jaune's dick as her fingers found his ball sack. Taking them in her hand, she first cupped them before giving them a light squeeze. She rolled them around between her fingers as she took as much of Jaune's cock as she could into her mouth. She gagged, but forced herself to let him remain deep inside her mouth.

"Pyrrha..." Jaune whispered hotly. "I'm getting close-"

It was right then that the door opened, causing both of them to freeze.

"Sorry for barging in," Ruby apologized. "Y'see, I was busy dealing with some bad guys and General Ironwood had-" It was then that she actually noticed the situation her two friends were in.

She felt a knot in her stomach form as she saw her crush getting sucked off by Pyrrha Nikos of all people, and she was left frozen in place.

"I.." she struggled. "I-I...uh..." Tears began to form, but she blinked them away. It wasn't fair! She loved Jaune just as long as Pyrrha had, why couldn't she have been the one with a chance?

Imagine her surprise when she felt a soft pair of lips connect with her own. Ruby's face became as red as her signature hood, and immediately she felt something wet drip down from between her legs.

Pyrrha pulled away from the kiss with a sexy smirk, before she took Ruby's hand and began leading her towards Jaune...

...

 **Who was the source of that gasp? Take a guess ;D**

 **So yeah, lots of crap in this chapter, with the beginning of some smut towards the end as well as both of our protagonists dealing with some rather confusing feelings regarding the other. Now here's my question for y'all: Would you like to see the full lemon next chapter, or would you rather the next chapter just skip to the morning after for them? Leave it in the reviews! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **IMPORTANT MESSAGE! Guys, if any of you are into Fire Emblem, I would very much like you to check out a new poll I set up on my profile! Even if you aren't into the FE games, I really wouldn't mind you voting anyway and just picking an option at random XD** **Votes end December 1st!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay... Um... WOW! A lot of you guys REALLY want that lemon XD Alrighty, I can provide that for you. Smuttiness over story! Got it!**

 **I seriously hope I don't screw this up .-. Anyway, I'm just gonna give all of you a warning: Because this chapter will mostly be taking a break from the actual story, it'll probably be a little shorter than the other chapters. BUT ANYWAY, y'all enjoy this while I go play some more Sun and Moon :D (Fuck you, Nebby...Little shit.)**

 **AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT DEM POLLS! VOTING ENDS DECEMBER 1ST! JUST PICK THE NAME THAT BEST ROLLS OFF THE TONGUE FOR GOD'S SAKE!**

 **...**

Neo collapsed onto her bed with a surprisingly large thud, her entire body shaking. How was she feeling? She felt a lot of things in that moment... Jealously, anger, betrayal, disappointment...heartbreak...

'Dammit!' she mentally screamed. 'Why the hell am I let this get to me?' She sniffled and rubbed another tear away. 'I...I'm not supposed to get worked up over things like this! I'm a professional, goddammit!' She bit her lip. 'I was just trying to use him, it's not like anything actually mattered...'

'So why...'

'...why do I feel so awful?'

 _Neo slipped past Yang easily, the girl too busy talking to another guest. The mute villain glanced around, and she couldn't help but feel...overwhelmed? She could handle many situations, but the throbbing crowd reminded her just how small she was compared to everyone else. Frowning, she pushed her way through the crowd. 'I better find Jaune,' she thought. 'God knows these people are WAY too close for comfort.' Her heart oddly skipped a beat at the thought of the boy, but Neo played it off as part of her simple schoolgirl crush. 'Nothing serious,' she reminded herself._

 _The headmaster of Beacon himself suddenly bumped into her, throwing the girl off balance. Neo just managed to catch herself, and was steadied by Ozpin's hand. "My apologies," he said. "I should've been more careful. You're not hurt, are you?"_

 _Neo shook her head, waving the professor away. Ozpin nodded and walked off, and Neo continued on her way, failing to notice the amused smirk the mysterious huntsman flashed in her direction._

 _Neo began pushing her way through the dancers once more, until finally she caught sight of the top of Jaune's head. No one could possibly miss tall, blonde, and scraggly... A butterfly fluttered in her stomach with excitement, and Neo hurried along with a smile on her face. She finally reached him, and was about to get his attention when suddenly she froze._

 _Jaune was kissing Pyrrha Nikos._

 _Jaune was kissing Pyrrha_ fucking _Nikos._

 _Immediately the excitement that had been building up inside Neo was gone, smothered by a feeling of dread. She barely managed to suppress a cry of shock, and she soon turned tail and ran, not looking back once._

'It's not fair...' she thought as she clutched her pillow. But the moment that thought entered her head, she instantly felt like slapping herself. Not fair?! What right did she have to say that?! She had been playing him the entire time! She was planning on using him as a new fuck toy! Gaining feelings for him wasn't part of the agenda...

She thought back on the image of the two locking lips. Did she deserve this? Did she deserve that heartbreak as payback for all the things she was planning for him?

The more she thought about it, the more she felt sick.

Neo buried her face further into her pillow. She wished Cinder would let her break Roman out of prison. Sure, the guy wasn't the best, but she could use any sort of distraction right now...

'Goddammit,' she mentally hissed. 'Goddammit, goddammit, goddammit...'

...

Jaune could only watch in shock as Ruby Rose, the adorable girl he met during his first day at Beacon, was willingly allowing a drunk Pyrrha Nikos to strip her naked. He could see the obvious blush on Ruby's face as she attempted to make herself seem smaller, giving out a surprised moan/yelp when Pyrrha cupped her modest bust. Jaune bit his lip. Oh, Yang would _kill_ him for this...

'This is so wrong,' the angel on his shoulder told him. 'This is so _fucking_ wrong! Stop this, Jaune! It isn't right to take advantage of your friends like this.'

'You've spent all of this time being a whore on the streets,' the devil on his other side cackled. 'Now it's time for you to be the alpha!'

Right then, Pyrrha's warm hand wrapped against his member, pumping him slowly. "Pay attention, Ruby...' she cooed as she nudged the girl closer. "You're going to be doing this next."

Ruby gulped and nodded her head frantically. Pyrrha gave a low laugh before putting a strand of hair behind her ear. She then leaned down and teasingly licked up Jaune's cock, earning a low moan from Jaune. Pyrrha grinned and soon took the former knight's head in her mouth, sucking on it while flicking the tip with her tongue. Jaune clenched the bed sheets and cursed under his breath, but suddenly a new feeling came from below.

"FUCK!" he cursed as he felt something wet and warm make contact with his balls. Glancing down, he saw Ruby pulling away from his sac, silver eyes wide.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized, her face entering a deeper shade of red. "Did it feel bad?"

Jaune gritted his teeth as Pyrrha deepthroated him, the girl making gagging noises as she attempted to take all of him in. He shook his head and forced a smile. "Of course not," he assured her. "Just took me by surprise, is all."

Pyrrha pulled away from Jaune's cock form a second. "Don't worry about it, Ruby," she said. "You'll do fine." No sooner than she said that, the champion of Mistral once again had her lips around her partner's dick, sucking vigorously as she bobbed her head up and down. Ruby bit her lip, before she took a deep breath and leaned in, sticking out her tongue and licking Jaune's sac.

Jaune gasped at the sensation, accidentally bucking his hips further into Pyrrha's mouth, the girl moaning sweetly. Ruby took this as a good sign and leaned in closer taking one of Jaune's balls in her mouth with rolling the other in her hand. She licked all over it, making slurpy noises in an attempt to appeal to her friend. She glanced up and saw that she was right, as Jaune had his eyes clenched shut and a string of curse words were coming from under his breath.

Ruby smiled and she soon began sucking on Jaune's balls with the same gusto as Pyrrha. Both huntresses pleasured Jaune to the best of their ability, slurping up whatever they could and moaning all the while. It took all of Jaune's willpower not to cum right then. No...he had to make this last! Never before had he received pleasure like this! The few customers who did suck his cock were rather bad and sloppy at it, making the sex just another chore. But this was different. This felt...

'Wrong...'

 _Right._

He felt his balls tighten, and Ruby's little squeal confirmed she did too. "G-Guys..." he muttered, letting out another moan. "I'm gonna...gonna cum!"

To his disappointment, both Pyrrha and Ruby pulled away, but it was quickly forgotten about when Pyrrha wrapped her hand around his cock and began stroking it. Ruby hesitantly did the same, except her hands naturally went for his sac and began caressing it.

"Get ready, Ruby," Pyrrha gave a heads up. Ruby nodded, and opened her mouth when she saw Pyrrha doing the same.

With one last groan, Jaune felt his cum shoot out, covering the two girls with it. When he glanced down on them, he nearly chocked. Faces, hair, tits... All three were sprayed with white! He gulped when he saw Ruby scoop some into her fingers, and she gently licked them off. She grimaced and shook her head.

"I don't really like the taste," she admitted quietly, as if it was the wrong thing to say.

Pyrrha just gave another smirk, before she leaned in and began _licking_ the cum off of Ruby. Jaune nearly choked again, and Ruby looked about ready to die of embarrassment as she tried to hold back her moans of pleasure. Pyrrha grinned and leaned down, sucking on Ruby's perky nipples as she scooped the rest of the cum off of the younger girl's body. Eventually, the drunken champion pulled away and licked all the cum off of her fingers, letting out a satisfied hum as she did so.

She then turned back to Jaune, and her eyes brightened when she saw he was still hard. Immediately, she stood up and moved to straddle the boy. Jaune looked up at her beautiful form and gulped, before placing his hands on her waist. Pyrrha smiled, then leaned in to kiss him. Jaune accepted it, and when the girl stuck her tongue in his mouth he could taste his own cum on it.

A sudden memory of one of his customers flashed in his mind, and in a panic Jaune shoved Pyrrha off of him. The girl landed painfully on her rear, and she glanced up at Jaune in confusion.

"J-Jaune?" she gasped, eyes wide.

"Jaune...?" Ruby hesitantly called out. "W-What's wrong?"

'What's wrong?' the former knight thought. 'THIS is wrong! These two are my best friends, I can't do this to them!'

"I...I..." he struggled, sweat forming at his brow as two beautiful set of eyes focused on him. Another memory, this one of Melody, followed the first. He felt a weight drop in his stomach, and his erection soon returned to its flaccid state. "I..." His eyes darted to his clothes, and he rushed over to scoop them up. "I can't do this," he told them, yanking on his pants. "N-Not to you two..." _Or anybody,_ he thought with a shudder.

"B-But..." Pyrrha did not seem to understand what Jaune was saying in her drunken state. "But why?" she finally asked.

"Jaune..." Ruby whispered, suddenly worried about her friend. She didn't know what was going on, but something was definitely troubling the former Beacon student.

Jaune threw the tuxedo's jacket over his shoulders, before he made his way to the door. He opened it, and gave his friends a brief and quiet goodbye. Then he slammed the door, and was gone.

Silence filled the room for several moments, before Pyrrha shook her head and sighed. "I...I didn't mean to-"

"I can't believe this," Ruby interrupted. 'I could've done something I really would've regretted...' Ruby bit her lip, before she stood up and began collecting her own clothes.

"Ruby...?" Pyrrha called out. "What are you doing?"

"Going to go find Jaune," Ruby answered as she finished the straps of her dress.

Pyrrha blinked. "Are you sure that's a good idea? He seemed pretty upset."

"You're drunk, Pyrrha," the younger girl hissed. "Just lay down and get some sleep."

Pyrrha didn't say anything, but the rustle of a blanket told Ruby that Pyrrha obeyed. Slipping on her stupid heels, Ruby walked out of Team JNPR's room, heading outside the dorms in hopes that she'd run into Jaune somewhere.

'Nora told us a bit about his situation,' she remembered. 'But she never gave us the full details... Did something happen to Jaune.' She exited the dorm area, and after exploring the campus for a bit longer she finally saw him next to the statue of the two hunters. Taking a deep breath, the girl began walking towards him, thinking carefully about what she would say.

...

When Jaune finally made it to the statue, he leaned over and emptied his stomach contents all over the base of it. He took deep breaths in an effort to calm himself down.

Was he really going to do that?! Was he actually that close to _fucking_ his best friends?! Ruby, the girl who was practically a sister to him... And Pyrrha, the girl who stood up for him back during his school days here. Jaune shook his head over and over as he tried to get the images of the two of them, covering in _his_ sperm, out of his head.

'Good, God,' he thought. 'What have I done?'

He blew it! He fucking blew it! There was no way he could ever look them in the eye again! He might as well just ask Yang to kill him now! Somehow, he knew this night would end up in disaster! The former knight collapsed on his knees, holding his head in his hands as he attempted to calm himself down.

"Jaune...?"

Jaune jumped up and whipped around, throat tightening. "R-Ruby?" he gasped, backing away. "I-uh..." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "I...gotta go..." he mumbled. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize," said Ruby, taking a step closer. "You don't have to apologize, Jaune... What we did was stupid, but please don't blame just yourself for it."

"But..." Jaune paused. "But... Pyrrha wasn't in her right mind, and you were forced in on it... And I didn't do a damn thing! I took advantage of both of you!" He could've sworn he felt tears, but he blinked them away. "Ruby, how can I look either of you in the eyes again knowing that I took _advantage_ of you guys?"

"But I forgive you!" Ruby insisted. "And Pyrrha will, too! Jaune, you didn't take advantage of me..." Her face became red again as she avoided his gaze. "I...actually wanted it..."

Jaune's eyes widened...a considerable amount. "W-What?"

"Well..." Ruby took a deep breath before replying. "I...I like you, Jaune, as more than a friend. I have for a long time now..." She sniffed and wiped something from her eye. "A-And... I don't know, I was just always jealous of how much time you spent with Pyrrha, and when I was finally working up the courage to tell you, a-and...you got expelled. And all of a sudden you were gone, Jaune!"

"Ruby..."

More and more tumbled out of the girl. "A-And then Nora told us she found you, b-b-but you were different and I...I wanted to help you but I didn't know how! Then when I heard you were coming to the dance, I thought 'Finally! Maybe this time I can tell him!'" She clenched her fist and looked down at her feet. "But I-I w-walked in on you and P-Pyrrha...and I was j-jealous. And I thought th-that maybe by joining you guys, I...I could have a chance with you..."

The girl finally looked up, her tears now evident. She Jaune with his back towards her. Ruby choked a bit, before she reached towards him...

"I'm so sorry, Ruby," she heard him mutter, causing her to freeze. "I...I don't have those feelings towards you...You're like a little sister to me..."

Ruby wanted to break down right then and cry. She wanted to sob into his shoulder and punch him while asking why she never had a chance. But she wouldn't. She couldn't. Looking at him, Ruby could tell her crush was hurting just as much as she was right now, and she knew he didn't deserve more pain.

"I-I know," she forced out of her throat. "You have feelings for Pyrrha, after all..."

"Huh?" Jaune turned around, confusion on his face. "What are you talking about?"

Ruby blinked. "D-Don't you have feelings for Pyrrha...?"

"I..." Jaune sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "No, I don't. I thought I did...but I don't."

"Oh..." Ruby played awkwardly with her dress. "Well, who do you have feelings for?

"Who do i..." Jaune trailed off, wondering the same thing himself. His mind drifted towards Neo, and he felt himself turn red. 'Neo...' he thought, before he shook his head in denial.

Ruby noticed it, and she raised an eyebrow. "There is someone, isn't there?" she pressed on.

"I don't know..." Jaune admitted. "I mean, she's the reason I'm even back on my feet, and she's nice enough, but... She wouldn't like me that way."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. "You're Jaune Arc... How could she not like you that way?"

"It's a long story..."

Ruby sighed, then grabbed Jaune's hand, leading him towards a bench not far off. She sat him down before taking a seat next to him. "Want to talk about it?" she offered.

Jaune debated saying no, but he knew Ruby deserved to know the truth. After all, she was his first friend here...

"It all started back when I was expelled," he began. "I didn't know what to do, and I was so scared... So I ran, Ruby. I left behind Crocea Mors and I ran. Basically, I was homeless. It was rough, and no one wanted to hire a kid recently expelled from one of the greatest academies in the world..." Dark memories formed in his mind. "I...I met this girl named Melody. She was a prostitute, and, well... She kept toying with me, making me believe that she was a safe person to be around. Eventually, she...she..."

Ruby stared at Jaune worriedly, placing her hand on his shoulder. Jaune gave her a grateful glance.

He took a deep breath. "She convinced me to try prostitution," he said, flinching at the gasp the girl next to him let out. Jaune nodded. "Yeah... It was bad. Because once you get in that business, it's really hard to get out."

"Jaune, I had no idea-"

"But I did get out," Jaune quickly told her, a small smile forming on his face. "It was thanks to this girl named Neo. She took me in and helped me get out of that business and find a real job. To be honest..." He sighed. "When she found me, I was right about to kill myself."

Instantly, he felt two small arms wrap around him. He glanced up to see Ruby tangling herself around him, burying her face in his shoulder. Jaune patted her head briefly, and Ruby eventually pulled away.

"Anyway," the former knight continued. "Without her, I wouldn't be here right now. I owe her so much..."

Ruby hesitated to ask. "I-Is she...the one you like?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't know," Jaune muttered. "For all her goods, Neo has one fault. She's a very sexual person, and I found out that she was keeping me around so she could...seduce me."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"I know I should be mad, but...I'm not. I think Neo genuinely cares for me, but she just has...an interesting way of showing it."

Ruby frowned. "She sounds like just another Melody to me," she noted.

Jaune froze. Neo...another Melody? No, she couldn't be... Neo wasn't perfect, but... "S-She isn't," Jaune argued. "Melody...brought me down, made me want to kill myself... Neo, she makes me...happy..."

Ruby bit her lip, then sighed. "Either way," she said. "I hope...things go well for you." She gave him a weak smile. "I...I guess you don't wanna stay here much longer, right?"

Jaune glanced up at the shattered moon, then nodded. "Yeah..." he mumured, standing up. He extended his arms, offering the younger girl a hug. Ruby gladly took it, and the two held each other for several long moments. "Thanks, Ruby," Jaune whispered. "You made me feel a lot better..."

"Anytime, Jaune," Ruby said. "Just promise you'll visit us again, okay? If you don't, I might just sick Yang on you."

The two shared a chuckle, before Jaune finally pulled away. "Well..." he said. "Goodnight, Ruby."

"Goodnight, Jaune."

It wasn't until Jaune was long gone that Ruby finally stopped holding back, collapsing to the ground as she sobbed the most she ever had.

...

 **You thought you would get a full smut, BUT YOU WERE WRONG! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **Anyway, a lot of drama in this chapter, and I think we may have just reentered that territory that was lurking around during the earlier chapters... Also, did I just accidentally make Melody, a character who rarely appears in this story, a villain in a sense? XD Whoops! Also, I lied about the chapter being shorter :P If anything, I believe that it's a tad bit longer. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this! Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Wowzers, sixteen chapters. Who would've thought I'd make it this far? Certainly not my sister, the little bitch... But, that's beside the point. What I really wanna say it... I AM SO FUCKING SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, EVERYONE! You see, my updates always get slower during the winter season whether I like it or not. During Christmas time, it's because, well... It's Christmas. Shit gets busy, That and I gotta practice for the tryouts of an upcoming musical, so there's that too. But the main reasons updates slow down during this time is simply because of all the snow we get here. And When it snows, internet gets faulty as shit.**

 **We also get like snow for an average of five months, so this could possibly take awhile to complete... Fuck.**

 **But, enough of that crap. Enjoy the chapter, everyone! (It's also a tad bit shorter than most, sorry.)**

 **...**

Neo's eyes shot open when she heard the banging on the train car's door. Groaning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, glaring daggers at the door. Whoever it was, she really didn't want to put up with their shit, she already had a crappy night. The banging grew louder and more frequent, and Neo rubbed her temples in a vain attempt of avoiding a headache.

"Neo, open up!" the voice of WFL barked. "We have work to do, dammit!"

Neo sighed and gave the door the middle finger, before she slid out of bed and opened it. The White Fang Lieutenant glared down at her through his mask, though the ice cream villain remained unfazed. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking him what he wanted. She knew that he knew what she was saying, and she knew that he knew that she knew he had already asked.

The gruff faunus sighed in annoyance and turned around, stomping away and calling over his shoulder, "Breakfast starts in ten minutes. After that, we have to continue loading up these cars." Without giving her a chance to respond, he was gone, vanishing into the crowd of terrorists that was beginning to form.

Neo shook her head and made her way towards the makeshift dining hall. Even though she wasn't all that hungry, she still felt like she should eat something, if to just provide a descent distraction.

'Jaune...' her inner voice sadly mewled again. The image of him locking lips with Pyrrha Nikos flashed across her mind, and she paused her walk. Her small fist clenched, and her whole body began to shake with jealousy. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she forced herself to keep moving, despite the mental picture repeating itself over and over.

'No!' she protested. 'I won't cry, not in front of all of these faunus! I won't show them weakness!'

However, her mask seemed to be cracked just a little bit, as the faunus passing her seemed to sense her distress. She stared at the mute curiously, but a glare from Neo sent her scampering away. Neo sighed and continued to walk towards the mess hall.

'I shouldn't be jealous,' she told herself. 'I shouldn't be angry. Jaune's happy, right? That was what Junior wanted me to do... Make him happy again.' She kicked a rock away. 'But it wasn't me who made him happy...'

Love was a cruel thing, she decided. At best, it could lift someone up from all the evil in the world, and make them the happiest person alive. A feeling of serenity and wholeness. At its worst, however, it could break someone down into a state of nothingness, make you feel less than worthless.

Was that something Jaune experienced?

Neo had abandoned her trip to the mess hall, instead sitting down in a hidden corner where she hoped no White Fang member would be able to see her. She brought her knees up and buried her face between them, her shoulders bobbing slightly as she attempted to hold back another sob. She didn't want to cry...not here. Besides, Jaune was happy with that girl, she reckoned. Jaune deserved happiness, much more than most people.

Neo wondered if she could honestly face Jaune after this mission, whatever it was, was over. She hoped she could, she couldn't just ditch him. Not when she had already agreed to take him in. Neo took a deep breath. 'I won't abandon him simply because he chose another girl,' she told herself.

The image flashed through her mind again. She should have seen it coming, she thought. After all, Pyrrha Nikos was his closest friend in that school, right? It made perfect sense, it seemed like a movie romance almost. An awkward, adorkable guy with a serious underdog complex, and a beautiful, confident young woman who has the kindness of a fucking saint.

Could it work if Pyrrha was replaced by her? Neo thought about herself for a moment, and frowned when the answer appeared to be no. What did she have that could possibly compete with Pyrrha _fucking_ Nikos?! She was a criminal, she was mute, she was rude, she was murderous, she was horny all the damn time. Those weren't exactly the qualities most men looked for in a woman. Well, maybe horniness, but Jaune wasn't like other guys. He was able to play off her charms like they were nothing.

Did he hate her for it? Should she have tried less? Neo sighed, wondering if she should've even tried at all. 'If I never made all of those advances on him, would things have been different?'

She didn't know how long she sat there, sadly dreaming of possibilities that would likely never happen, but she was eventually taken out of her trance when she heard someone clear his throat above her. Glancing up, the short villain saw the White Fang Lieutenant staring down at her with annoyance. The two stared at each other for awhile, before the faunus shook his head and stepped back, giving Neo room to rise to her feet.

"We start work now," he told her. He pointed a beefy finger at her. "No more slouching," he warned. "And I don't want to here stories about you teleporting or whatever to get out of work, you hear?"

Neo rolled her eyes, then nodded. The White Fang Lieutenant seemed satisfied, and he turned to walk away. However a sudden question popped into Neo's head, and she grabbed the terrorist's arm. He stopped and turned around to face the short woman. "What?" he growled.

 _What exactly are we doing this for?_ she mouthed slowly, making sure he could read her lips. _What's the goal, here?_

The faunus scoffed and kept walking. "You're not being paid to ask questions," he said. "And didn't you already ask this once?" Neo frowned and shook her head, before grabbing his arm again. The faunus was clearly agitated as he turned back around.

Neo smirked and slowly pulled her top down, giving him a full frontal view of her tits. _Please?_ she mouthed, adding a wink for effect.

The terrorist's eyes were fixated on her breasts, and he finally sighed. "We're loading this train up with explosives," he explained. "The goal is to blow a hole leading to Vale that will allow the grimm to run through it. Happy?" He then walked away again, mumbling things to himself. "To think I would enjoy her company... Bah!"

Neo pulled her top back up, not exactly pleased with what she had just done. Still, that didn't compare to the knowledge she had just received. Grimm? In Vale? She knew she had already asked him about the plan, she was just hoping to gain just a little bit more info... She sighed and sat down for a bit, the work could wait...

Once again, worry about Jaune coursed through her. If the Grimm were to get into Vale, he would be in danger... A heavy feeling sunk in her stomach, and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

Things just had a habit of getting worse.

...

She couldn't be another Melody...right?

Jaune sighed as he rolled over in his bed. His scroll buzzed, and he glanced at it to see another text from Pyrrha. Shaking his head, Jaune let his scroll drop, and went back to his own thoughts. "There's no way.." he told himself. "Neo's different from her... She never made me feel less of myself."

It was the morning after his disastrous near threesome with Pyrrha and Ruby, and to say he wasn't feeling okay would be a complete understatement. He wasn't exactly sure why, but one thing Ruby told him after he described Neo stuck with him.

 _"She sounds like just another Melody to me."_

'She didn't mean it,' Jaune attempted to reason. 'She was just...jealous? She did admit to loving me, after all...'

The words had stung when he heard them, and he had instantly denied Ruby's claims. But upon returning home and sleeping on it, his doubt had resurfaced. The former knight groaned and rubbed his face with both of his hands. He needed a drink...

His eyes opened. He needed a drink!

Forcing himself to sit up, he glanced across the room, where the suit Junior let him borrow from one of his boys was laying. He could return it today, and perhaps even get something to drink soon after. Jaune allowed a ghost of a smile to form. "That sounds nice," he murmured. Forcing himself out of bed, he threw on a t-shirt and jeans before grabbing the suit. Stuffing it into a duffel bag he found, he put on his sneakers and stepped outside of the warehouse. Breathing in the mid-morning air, he began the short journey to Junior's club.

It wouldn't be open, but he could still probably be invited in. Junior was known to be inviting to those he was on good terms with.

'Another Melody...'

Jaune shook his head. No! Neo was far from Melody! Melody was a manipulative bitch. Neo, despite her quirks, did care for him. She just had...a funny way of showing it.

Jaune glanced up, noticing that he now stood in front of Junior's club. Sighing, he stepped forwards and opened the door, knowing that it wouldn't be locked. One of Junior's thugs noticed him, and was about to make a move before he recognized the boy. Nodding, he allowed the blonde to step into the main part of the club. Immediately catching sight of Junior wiping a rag against the bar's surface, Jaune made his way to the information broker, sitting down on one of the stools.

Junior glanced up. "Oh, kid." he greeted as he stopped wiping. He noticed Jaune's duffel bag and pointed at it. "Is the suit in there?" Jaune nodded, and Junior called out, "Henry! Your suit's back!"

Another thug took the duffel bag from Jaune, leaving just him and the bearded man alone. Junior looked the former prostitute up and down, taking in his appearance. "Christ, you look like shit," he noted, raising an eyebrow. "I take it your night didn't go to well?"

The former knight nodded. "It started out nice," he said. "But it eventually just...blew up."

Junior grunted. "Wait there," he ordered, before going to the back somewhere. He eventually came back with a bottle of an alcohol Jaune didn't recognize. "Drink up, kid." the man offered. "This one's on the house."

Jaune mumbled a 'thank you', opened the bottle and took a sip of it. Hm... Not bad. He took another swig, and Junior took this opportunity to ask the boy a question.

"Want to tell me what the hell happened?"

It all came out. Jaune began telling Junior everything. He told him about how fun it was reconnecting with his friends, he told him about the drunk kiss Pyrrha gave him. He mentioned the near threesome, and how he bailed in the end. He told Junior about the discussion he and Ruby had afterwords, her feelings towards him, her remark about Neo and Melody. At the end of it all, Junior had an unreadable expression on his face.

Finally, the older man sighed and shook his head. "You really fucked the pooch, kid," he said.

"I know!" Jaune hissed. "God, I hate myself for last night, Pyrrha and Ruby didn't deserve that. And I also hating myself for doubting Neo. I mean, I know she isn't perfect, but she still cares, right?"

Junior shrugged. "I wouldn't know, kid," he admitted. "Listen, I'm sure you've figured out by now that Neo has some...tendencies." Jaune chuckled and nodded. Junior cracked a sad smile. "Well, her original goal was to simply get in your pants, you know."

Jaune nodded once more. "I figured as much."

"So as far as I could tell, her affections for you only involved your body," Junior said. "Whether or not that changed, I don't have a single clue. Maybe she genuinely cares for you, maybe she doesn't. Either way, you're on dangerous turf." He gave the boy a serious gaze. "You may just want to prepare for the worse, just in case."

...that really didn't bring up Jaune's mood at all. He frowned, and took another swig of the mysterious alcohol.

"I can tell you don't want to believe me," Junior stated. "But I'm trying to help you, kid. I don't like seeing young people like you fucking up their lives because of one stupid mistake."

"I've made plenty of stupid mistakes," Jaune replied.

Junior nodded. "Yeah. You have."

"I'm really sorry, Junior." the former knight apologized. "I didn't mean to come off as-"

Junior raised his hand, silencing Jaune. "Don't worry about it," he assured. "You're young, shit happens when you're young. Sometimes you don't know how to deal with it." He waved the boy off. "Still, the only way to learn is through experience, as my old man said. Just enjoy your drink kid, think about what you're gonna do about all of this." He turned to walk away, before he stopped. "And about those two girls, you should really talk things through with them. Can't let something like what you guys did get in the way of friendship." He scoffed. "God knows I figured that out the hard way," he murmured, before walking over to talk to some of his men.

Jaune sat there for a few moments, before deciding to take Junior's advice. Pulling out his scroll, he noticed he had another text message from Pyrrha.

 **Jaune, I'm SO sorry! I didn't mean to put you in a situation that made you uncomfortable! I know I was a horrible friend and I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I really want us to keep being friends. Ruby told me what you guys were talking about, I'm sorry once again!**

"Pyrrha..." he breathed. He wasn't in love with the girl, but he could feel every bit of feeling she put in her text. He suddenly felt like a major dick for ignoring her earlier messages.

Taking a deep breath, he began to type a response.

 **It's alright, Pyrrha. I forgive you. It was just as much as my fault as it was yours, I should've had more self control. I'm really sorry about last night. You and Ruby... You two are my best friends, the first I've ever had, and I don't want to lose that with either of you. I'd be happy if we could work things out, Pyr.**

He didn't have to wait long for a response.

 **Oh, Jaune! I'm really happy you're not mad :) Let's just agree to put that night behind us, alright? No need to focus on it, all that matters is the future, right?**

Jaune sent his agreement, happy that he was making peace with the warrior girl.

She soon texted him back. **Hey, would you like to come have ice cream with with Ren, Nora, and I? Team RWBY is away on a mission, but ours isn't until tomorrow. It would be great having all of Team JNPR back.**

A new excitement built up inside the blonde. His old team? A chance to spend some time with them. Jaune burst into a grin, and he eagerly typed his answer. He sent it, already looking forward to the day. Pyrrha responded, saying how they would meet up at an ice cream parlor called _Freezy Cool._ Jaune said he would be there in ten minutes, already searching the location on his scroll.

After that was done, he turned to Junior and called out, "Thanks for the pep talk, Junior! I'll see you later!"

Junior waved goodbye. "Til next time, kid!"

As Jaune walked out of Junior's club, he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning around, he didn't see anything. 'Another Melody,' the words once more echoed in his mind. Jaune shook those thoughts away. "Neo is not another Melody," he told himself. "Just wait until she comes back, Jaune. You'll be proved wrong..."

Sighing, he continued to make his way towards the meeting spot. However, he failed to notice the faunus woman emerging from her hiding place and staring after him. She chuckled. "So, Jauney boy..." she murmured. "Where have you been hiding lately?"

Licking her lips and taking a moment to rub her crotch, Melody silently followed the boy she had previously taken in. "This should be fun..." she said, giggling like a horny schoolgirl.

...

 **Aw shit, Melody's back, bitches! And right when Jaune is beginning to have his spirits lifted. My characters can just never catch a break, can they? (Well, technically only Melody is my character, but you get the point...) Once again, really sorry about the wait! :( Forgive me?**

 **Anyway, don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **(Also, Chapter six of Volume Four O_O Holy fucking shit.)**


	17. Chapter 17

**HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS! For some of you, this will be my first update of the year, while to others it's going to be my last. Pretty weird... Actually who the hell am I kidding? This is definitely being uploaded in 2017. Welp.**

 **Anyway, I am SO fucking sorry for the long wait! For the past...two weeks or so I've been on vacation, without access to any of my fanfiction... Twas very sad.**

 **But now that my vacation is over, I can get back in the zone! So, without further ado... Enjoy the chapter, everyone! :D (meanwhile I'll be snacking on some delicious cheesecake ;3)**

 **Also there's a scent of tobacco that won't go away and it's starting to make my nose itch. .-.**

 **...**

"What if he doesn't show up?" Pyrrha asked her teammates anxiously, wringing her hands together. "What if he hates me, and he decides he doesn't want to spend time with us? What if-"

"Pyrrha, it will be fine," Ren assured for the umpteenth time. He placed a hand on the Mistral champion's shoulder. "Jaune isn't like that, I promise you he'll come."

"Yeah!" Nora agreed. "There's no way he could say no!" Ever since last night, Nora's mood has brightened greatly. Like everyone else, she was ecstatic to see Jaune once again, and she quickly returned to her usual, bubbly self. Even though she and Ren had learned about Pyrrha's mistake during the dance, they couldn't bring themselves to be that mad at her. They were disappointed, yes, but they were quick to forgive and comfort their friend during her time of need.

Pyrrah sniffed and wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath and nodding. "Okay..." she breathed. She gave her friends a small smile. "Thank you, Ren and Nora."

The three were currently sitting at a booth inside an ice cream parlor named _Freezy Cool,_ where Jaune had agreed to meet them. However, Pyrrha's worry started when Jaune still hadn't walked into the shop after fifteen minutes, and she was scared that the former knight wasn't planning on meeting up with them. Ren and Nora, however, didn't share her doubts. The two continued to comfort the poor champion, although they could admit that their patience was beginning to wear a little thin.

Then they heard a bell ding, and when they turned their heads, all three of them saw Jaune Arc standing by the store's door, looking right back at them.

...

Jaune stood outside of _Freezy Cool,_ his eyes locked onto the sign, which depicted a polar bear wearing sunglasses. Jaune frowned, the logo reminding him way too much of the place he worked at. Stupid Neo and her stupid job hunting...

The blonde shook his head, smacking himself lightly. 'Dang it, Jaune!' he scolded himself. 'Stop thinking about her, right now this is about your friends!'

"Neo's a friend..." he muttered to himself. He smacked himself again. 'What did I just say, Jaune?' his inner voice hissed. 'Let me remind you who it is you should be thinking about right now. Their names are Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. Got it memorized?'

"Yeah, yeah..." he grumbled. Despite this inner conflict, he really was excited to spend some time with his team again. Though at the same time, he felt a tad bit scared as well. After all, when was the last time they were all together as a team? It was the day before his expulsion, but even then all they did was cry and comfort each other. It was all they could do...

Jaune clenched his fist and shook his head. No, no! He wasn't going to think about that! He wasn't going to feel sad, not now! Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at the stupid polar bear logo. This place was a lot bigger than the joint he worked at... No wonder they never got any customers.

Biting his lip, he threw open the door and walked inside, not noticing the woman standing a few meters away.

Melody raised an eyebrow, and was almost tempted to enter behind him. However, she guessed that she could observe him from outside. The deer faunus licked her lips and settled down on a bench opposite of the ice cream parlor, eager to once again have her 'toy'.

Upon entering, Jaune immediately heard the sound of a jukebox in the corner. A familiar tune sounded from it, sparking some much needed confidence in the young man. Turning his head, he caught his breath as he saw them. His former teammate, sitting down just a few feet away from him. Everything seemed silent, save for the music that slowly faded away. Jaune wondered if he really should be feeling like this. After all, he saw them at the dance last night!

But this felt different. This wasn't some social gathering like last night. This was his team, the three friends that stuck by his side during his days at Beacon. Swallowing, he raised his hand and gave a small wave.

"Hey, guys."

And just like that, he unknowingly gave Nora an invitation to give him a friendship tackle.

She accepted it graciously.

"Jaune Jaune!"

Jaune gasped as he was suddenly forced to the ground, Nora practically crushing him in her arms. Coughing, he laughed weakly and attempted to pry the berserker off of him. "Nora..." he growled lightly.

"Nora, let Jaune go," Ren ordered.

Nora pouted and shook her head, squeezing her former leader harder. "But it's been so long!" she protested.

Pyrrha chuckled and playfully raised an eyebrow. "Nora, you saw him just last night." she reminded the girl.

"Pfft..." Nora shook her head. "Well, I guess... But this is the first time since he left that we're all together as a team again!"

She finally let Jaune go, much to the boy's relief. He stood up weakly, allowing Pyrrha and Ren to gently guide him to their table. When he passed by Nora, she gave a sheepish grin and an apologetic wave. The former knight sat down, grimacing as his back cracked awkwardly due to the strength of Nora's hugs. He watched the rest of his former team sit down around him, and for a few moments only more silence followed. Finally, Jaune decided it was time to speak up.

"It's great seeing you guys again," he told them. "Honestly, I miss being on a team with all of you."

"We miss you too, Jaune," Pyrrha stated, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "We all want to let you know that we're here for you. Whatever it is you're doing, we want to help."

"She's right, Jaune," Ren said. "We don't want you to have to go through all of these struggles alone. We know life hasn't been that great for you, but we want to make it better however we can."

Jaune smiled and shook his head. "You already are," he assured. "Trust me, just being here with you guys makes me feel so much better!"

"Whew! Well that's a relief!" Nora exclaimed, and just then a waitress came over.

"Hey, you guys!" she greeted. "Would any of you like to order?"

"Four sundaes, all around," Ren stated, ordering for the entire team.

A sudden thought crossed Jaune's mind, and he waved his hand to catch the waitress's attention. "Actually, I'll take a bowl of Neapolitan," he said, ignoring the stares he received. The waitress nodded and left, leaving Team JNPR to themselves. Jaune raised an eyebrow when he noticed everyone looking at him. "What?" he asked, trying to not let his blush show. As much as he wanted to reconnect with his team, he wasn't sure them knowing about Neo would be a good idea.

"Just wondering if there was a reason you ordered something different." Pyrrha stated, as if that would answer everything.

The former knight shrugged. "I just like it, that's all." He tried to ignore the voice in his head that teasingly suggested that he was talking about a different kind of Neapolitan entirely. 'Fuck you, brain.' he thought.

Everyone accepted his answer, and they quickly switched topics. "So, Pyrrha told us you work at an ice cream place now!" Nora said, leaning in. "Is it fun? How much ice cream do you get for lunch? Do you guys have pancake flavor?"

Jaune rolled his eyes, secretly thankful Nora was back to her usual self instead of the sad mess she had been lately. "Of course it isn't fun," he hissed jokingly. "And no, I don't get ice cream for lunch. Pancake flavor doesn't exist, but I'll speak to the old man and see if he is willing to try that recipe."

Nora beamed. "Really?!"

'Fuck no.' "Of course."

This went on for some time, along with more questions about how he was doing. He answered them all truthfully, only leaving out a few minor details, such as his suicidal suffering and the pint sized criminal he was staying with. Eventually, he decided that they talked about him long enough, and he switched the conversation around.

"So how have you guys been?" he asked, taking a spoonful of his Neapolitan ice cream and sticking it in his mouth. "Ren, have you been a good boy?"

Ren smirked. "I'd say so," he replied, before his face turned serious. "Jaune, I would like to say that everything has been fine, but..." He trailed off and looked at Nora, who was now staring at her feet in silence.

"...it's just...been hard without you leading us," Pyrrha finished. "Being the only three man team in Beacon isn't easy, and I'll admit that a lot of people do speak badly of us when they think we can't hear. About you."

"It isn't fair," Nora grumbled. "Who cares about some stupid transcripts? You survived initiation, how you got in shouldn't matter!"

Jaune sighed. "It isn't that simple, Nora..." he told her gently. "What I did could have got me in jail..."

Nora bit her lip, lightly slamming her fist on the table. Jaune suddenly felt horrible for bringing up the subject. 'Was it really this bad without me?' he wondered. He was just about to say something when a movement caught his eye. Turning his head, he found himself facing a window, and he froze.

Sitting on a bench just on the other side of the road, was Melody. Jaune's blood turned cold and suddenly he felt like he couldn't breathe. The faunus made eye contact with him, a coy smile forming. A smile that would've seduced any other man, but to Jaune it was something that made him want to run.

"...change the subject." Pyrrha was saying, before she turned to Jaune. "Jaune?" she called to him, then tilted her head when he didn't respond. "...Jaune?" She tried again, this time reaching out and touching his shoulder. Jaune jumped and recoiled with a yelp, startling Pyrrha and causing her to yank her hand away. Her former partner turned to look at her, his eyes wide and fearful. Guilt rushed through Pyrrha, and she wondered if her contact brought back memories. Jaune seemed to notice this, and he slowly forced himself to relax...or at least pretend to.

"Pyrrha, I'm sorry," he apologized. "Trust me, it's not you, it's just..." He turned back to look at Melody, who was curling her finger in a 'come here' way. Jaune narrowed his eyes before continuing. "There's just...something that came up." He stood up and quickly hugged all of his former teammates. "Sorry that I have to cut this short, guys," he apologized once more. "I promise we'll hang out again. Tomorrow, maybe."

"Promise?" Nora asked in a manner of adorableness that rivaled Ruby's. She held out her pinkie to boost the effect.

Jaune smiled and hooked his pinkie with hers. "Promise," he echoed.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha whispered, pulling the boy close. "Be careful."

The blonde nodded and patted his former partner's shoulder. "I will," he said.

Stepping outside, he took a moment to collect himself, but it was ruined when _her_ voice sounded from his right. "Hey, Jaune~"

Sighing, the former prostitute turned around and glared at the deer faunus. "What do you want, Melody?" he barked. The woman seemed to be hurt, though Jaune knew she was simply faking it. He felt himself grind his teeth, anger replacing his fear as the woman gave a small moan that was apparently meant to show sadness.

Fucking whore.

"I was just wondering where my favorite man disappeared to," she told him, licking her lips. "I hope you've been saving me some cock..." She reached towards his crotch, but Jaune slapped her hand away.

"No, Melody." Jaune growled. "I just want to be left alone, especially by you."

Melody narrowed her eyes, but replaced her anger with a pout. "Jaune... That's not very nice." she whined, once again grabbing for his penis. Jaune backed away quickly, leaving the woman grabbing nothing but air.

"Dammit, Melody, I'm serious!" he yelled. "I'm done with you and your bullshit! My life was ruined because of you, you turned me into some puppet! And now when things are finally going my way again, when I'm finally finding some happiness, you just show up?!"

This time an aura of danger pooled from the faunus, and she took a step towards him. "Jaune...you shouldn't say things like that." she hissed.

For a moment, Jaune's angry confidence wavered, fear returning. He gulped and attempted to gain back his momentum. "Yeah, well you're a fucking-"

 _SMACK!_

The slap he received from Melody was enough to send him flying to the ground, much to his surprise. He began crawling to his knees, but Melody pinned him to the ground with her high heels, leaning down to whisper something to him.

"You don't talk to me like that, you whiny little bitch!" she snarled. "You think that your friends are just going to magically whisk you away from all of this? _Hell fucking no!_ You chose the life of a whore, Jauney Boy, you have to live it out!" She stepped off of him and sneered. "I'm willing to give you a second chance," shr told him, her sneer turning into a grin. "I can make you a real man..." She peeled down her shirt, giving him a nice view of her tits.

"...no." Jaune said, standing up.

Melody blinked. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Jaune smirked. "I'm not working for you any more," he said. "I have a new job at a damn good ice cream parlor, I have friends who love me, I have a pretty sweet place to crash..."

'And I have Neo,' his mind finished. He nodded in agreement with himself. "And I have Neo," he repeated quietly.

Turning around, he began walking away, determined to make it back to the warehouse. Melody stared after him, her face twisting in anger. "You fucking bastard!" she screeched. "Fuck you, you wretched man-whore! Walk away like a damn coward, huh?!"

Jaune blocked her out, instead reaching into his pocket and pulling out his scroll. He selected Pyrrha, and sent her a text message explaining that he was going home to take a nap. Pyrrha responded soon after, telling him she understood, and that the team was around whenever he needed them. 'I love these guys,' Jaune thought with a smile.

Melody was still screeching, but Jaune finally moved out of earshot. The faunus growled in frustration. 'You made a big mistake, Jauney Boy!' she warned. 'I'll have you, one way or another!'

Jaune sighed as he walked down the streets to the warehouse, Melody's words still fresh in his mind. To be honest, he was survived he even made it through that, a lot of what Melody said wasn't exactly boosting his confidence. 'But it doesn't matter what she thinks,' he reminded himself. 'I'm not her puppet anymore, I refused to get tricked like that again!' He closed his eyes and stopped walking, thinking about all of his friends.

'Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Junior...'

His eyes opened. 'Neo.'

His heart skipped a beat when he thought of her, though he had not the slightest clue. Well, maybe he did, but it wasn't anything to special, right? She was pretty, beautiful in all honesty, but she was still...Neo. And that spoke for itself. She was a damn good friend, but one who was only nice to him so she could fuck him. So really, she...wasn't a good friend? Jaune shook his head. "Of course she's a good friend," he muttered.

She wasn't Melody.

She wouldn't ever be Melody.

That was good enough for Jaune.

He began walking again, Neo still in his mind. He chuckled. Damn that woman, always invading his thoughts. There was something special about her, that was for sure. Something Jaune...wouldn't mind seeing more of? He shook his head, and saw that he had reached the warehouse.

Neo... Mute, deadly, and rude to a fault.

Neo... Elegant, beautiful, and full of grace.

Stepping inside, he immediately saw her. There she was, waiting for him. Her familiar scheme of whit, pink, and brown, alongside her signature catlike smirk. Her parasol was tilted slightly against her shoulder, her hips cocked to one side. Just the sight of her somehow erased his worries.

She appeared to be a perfect picture, one he would stare at for hours, those pink and brown eyes gazing deep into him, a will to test his patience and everything else. Why...why was he feeling like this? What was so special about the girl who stood in front of him?

He smirked, already knowing the answer.

It was because she's...

He breathed. "Neo."

...

 **So...is Jaune beginning to develop something for Neo? And what is Melody thinking, what evil scheme is going on inside that bitch's head?! And what exactly is Neo doing back? Stay tuned!**

 **That scent of tobacco is overwhelming...I swear it's making my throat close up. Anyway... Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **(And I promise, the next update won't take so long.)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello, everybody! First thing is first: updates are gonna start slowing down again :/ Yeah... Y'see, my life is getting a whole lot busier than it used to be, especially that I'm now in a musical, which takes up most of my free time during the week. And even when that's over and done with, there's still a crap load of school related projects I need to work on. Midterms are here, so...yep.**

 **But with all that out of the way, enjoy the chapter, everyone!**

 **...**

"Neo."

The way he said her name sent pleasurable shivers up her spine, and her usual smirk reshaped itself into a genuine smile. She took a few steps towards him, hiding her caution. She didn't want him to see her as someone looking for a fuck buddy, not anymore. She stopped right in front of the former knight, tilting her head up to gaze at him. He gave a slightly nervous smile, a blush forming on his cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck. "Is that job of yours over and done with?"

No, it wasn't. Neo knew she would have to return to her post within a few hours, before someone became well aware of her departure. It was a risky move, abandoning her job like that. She was risking the possibility of Cinder simply setting her ablaze without a second thought, but right now she couldn't care less about what anyone was thinking. All that mattered was the time she spent with Jaune today.

At first, she was worried about visiting him, the memories of the previous night burned in her mind. But she decided that she wasn't going to let that drag her down. Just the way Jaune was interacting with her right now debunked any doubts she had. 'He doesn't hate me,' she thought. 'He isn't pushing me away.'

She pulled out her scroll, typing a brief message for the boy to read. **No, but I guess you can say I'm on break.**

"Break, huh?" Jaune echoed. He chuckled lightly. "Well, how are we going to spend this break?"

'We,' she noted. 'He didn't say _you,_ he said _we._ '

She wasn't sure if her calm exterior stayed, or if she was now blushing like a schoolgirl. Instead of dwelling on that, she pondered Jaune's actual question. Her catlike grin returned, and she quickly typed an answer on her scroll, showing it to him moments later. **How about a date? ;) It's been awhile, hasn't it?**

She giggled silently as Jaune's blush grew bigger and he began sputtering. Finally, the boy just closed his mouth, and nodded. "Sounds great," he agreed. "Should...we start heading out now?"

 **In a bit.** The pint sized criminal typed. **Right now I just want to lay down for a few minutes. Is that alright?**

Jaune shrugged. "Sure, don't see why not," he said. "It's your place, after all..." he added as an afterthought. Neo hummed silently, before she leaned forward and stood on her tip toes, pecking the blonde's cheek. Jaune's eyes widened, and Neo giggled again before walking away, disappearing into her room.

Neo sighed and laid down in her bed. She immediately found herself comfortable, and she realized just how much she missed this place. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and just laid there, content.

A few minutes later, she reopened her eyes, satisfied with what she got. Sitting up and stretching, she wondered what the rest of the day would bring her. What would she and Jaune do? Get some ice cream? While that was Neo's favorite pass time, she wasn't sure that was the right sort of situation for them. She tapped her chin with one finger, before she pulled out her scroll and began searching for some hot spots throughout the city. Finally, something caught her eye, and she quickly memorized the directions before pocketing her scroll.

Stepping outside her room, she searched briefly for Jaune, eventually finding him in the kitchen, talking to someone on his scroll.

"...yes, Pyrrha, everything's fine," he was saying. "Stop worrying so much..."

Neo paused mid step, frowning. Sighing, she leaned against a wall and waited for Jaune to finish his call. Of course it had to be Pyrrha... The feeling of jealousy returned to her gut, making her uncomfortable. She cleared her throat, catching the former knight's attention. He glanced at her for a second, before he hastily finished his call.

"Alright, yeah. See you later, Pyr," he muttered, ending the call. He turned to the ice cream themed villain, smiling. "Hey, you ready?" he asked.

Neo couldn't help but smile back, despite the jealousy still burning. She nodded, and eagerly made her way towards the exit, extending her arm out. Jaune chuckled lightly and followed after her, the girl looping her arm around his. Neo then led Jaune outside, stepping away for a moment to shift into her disguise. She checked herself, making sure everything was perfect.

"Uh..." Jaune muttered. "Maybe you should...not wear your disguise?"

Neo blushed upon hearing his words, and a quick glance showed that Jaune was doing the same. Jaune gulped and quickly shook his head. "I mean, I just thought that maybe-"

 **I would.** Neo thrust her scroll into the blonde's face. **But don't forget I'm a criminal. The disguise is a safety precaution.** She typed another message. **But thanks, anyway.**

"Right..." Jaune agreed halfheartedly. "Of course."

An awkward atmosphere blanketed over them, until Neo coughed and took the former Beacon student's arm again, leading him towards...wherever it was they were going. "So where are we going?" he wondered out loud.

Neo turned back and winked, zipping her lips.

"Alright, so it's a surprise. Is that why we're not going there by your weird teleportation thing?"

The tiny girl nodded, yanking Jaune closer to her ever so slightly when she saw some passing women eyeing the blonde. Jaune appeared to have noticed the slight movement, but he made no mention of it. Neo sighed silently, before leaning her head against Jaune's arm.

This...this felt nice...felt right, she decided. Just being like this, with him. Neo was not sure when was the last time she felt this much comfort and warmth. For most of her childhood, it was verbal and physical abuse from her alcoholic father, without any mother to turn to. After running away, she fell into the hands of one Roman Torchwick. For her entire life, she realized, she never had anything good happen to her. It was all just one bad thing after another, with no obvious end in sight.

Then, she meets this kid, some scraggly loser she simply wanted to fuck. Neo bit her lip, her mind flashing to the second time they met, when he had that gun pointed at himself...

"Neo?" Jaune called, breaking her train of thought. Glancing up, she saw the blonde making a pained expression. "You're kind of...squeezing my arm too tight." Neo glanced down, and noticed that she was indeed squeezing his arm. She quickly loosened her grip, earning a sigh of relief from the boy. He glanced down at her, tilting his head in concern. "Neo...is everything alright?"

Neo nodded, though Jaune didn't seem convinced. He stopped walking, and gently grabbed Neo's shoulders. "Neo, what's wrong?" Judging by his tone, it wasn't a question...

Neo glanced away. 'Why is he acting like this?' she wondered. 'He's never showed this side of himself before...at least, not to this extent.' Sighing, she pulled out her scroll and typed a message for him to read. **Jaune... You don't hate me, right?**

Jaune blinked, and shook his head. "Neo...of course I don't hate you!" he assured. "Where's this coming from?"

Neo bit her lip. **Just some things from the past.**

"What do you mean?"

 **Do you remember the first night we met?**

He frowned, but nodded. "Yeah..." he murmured. "I do..."

Neo closed her eyes, taking a few moments of silence before she began typing on her scroll again. **There's something I should tell you.** Her message said. **When we first met, I...I was trying to take advantage of you. I only kept you around because I thought you would make a nice fling.** She noticed the hurt look that flashed across Jaune's eyes, and she quickly typed another message. **But I don't think that way anymore! I find myself enjoying being around you, because, well... It's you! I regret all those previous thoughts I had for you, and I can understand if you hate me because of it.**

"Neo..."

 **But all my life, I've done nothing but bad things! And I've had a lot of bad things happen to me too. But you...you're the first good thing to enter my life, Jaune! And part of me is scared about losing you! Because I see Pyrrha Nikos and I think, 'what if he doesn't need me anymore? What if he leaves me like so many others?'**

She hadn't meant for her emotions to poor out like that, not by a long shot. But once she started, she found out that she couldn't stop. Everything she had built up inside was being released, and it took all of her will power not to confess her feelings for him. She didn't even want to know what possible chaos _that_ would cause.

Jaune hung onto every word he read, lips moving silently with the texts. One thing stuck out to him, the part about Pyrrha. Furrowing his brow, he remembered the strange gasp he heard, and the figure he barely saw running away. All of that happened during when Pyrrha...yeah...

Slowly his mind made the connection, and he gasped softly.

And everything she was telling him...it was almost like looking into a mirror. Jaune shook his head lightly and sighed, wiping a stray tear that had managed to leak from his eye.

"Neo..." Jaune whispered, before he brought the tiny criminal in for a hug. The girl stiffened slightly, but soon relaxed, slowly bringing her arms up to hug the blonde back. Jaune let them stay like that for a minute, before he continued speaking. "Neo...First of all...I knew about your original plans..."

Neo recoiled, her eyes wide. For a moment they flashed white, before they returned to their normal color. Jaune shrugged and chuckled awkwardly. "Well, it's not like you were subtle about it..."

To say Neo looked embarrassed would have been a complete understatement. To tell the truth, the mute looked like she just wanted to disappear. She was fidgeting uncomfortably, obviously afraid she may have offended Jaune. The blonde knight realized that what he said probably wasn't the best thing to say, so he simply pulled the girl into another hug, though she seemed much more reluctant to return it.

"But," he continued speaking. "I always wanted to think that you were a good person despite that, and this is just proving me right." Neo glanced up at him. "Neo, I could never hate you. You are more important to me than you realize. Without you, I would've died that night we met. Thanks to you, I was able to pick myself up again, and face my friends once more. I got a dinky yet lovable job, and the best roommate ever. And you don't have to worry about Pyrrha, she's just a friend. A close friend, but not one who is going to take me away or anything." He smiled. "I promise you, Neo, I'm not going anywhere. You haven't let me down, so I'm never gonna let you down."

'Jaune..' Neo sniffed, and tears began cascading down her cheeks. Jaune noticed, and he pulled away. "Did...Did I say something wrong?" he asked. Neo shook her head, showing him a new text on her scroll.

 **Of course not, idiot. It just makes me so happy to hear you say that.**

Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "That's good," he murmured. He placed a hand on the girl's head, chuckling at her cute little pout. "You're one of a kind, Neo. A real angel in disguise, if you ask me!"

'You're nothing like Melody.' he thought.

'An angel in disguise, huh?' Neo echoed internally. She let half a smile show. 'I like the sound of that...' Nodding to herself, she wrapped her arms around the former knight's waist, leaning her head against his chest. Jaune gulped and blushed, seemingly realizing only now just how intimate they were being. He slowly brought his arms around her as well ,and the two stayed like that for countless minutes before Neo pulled away, quickly typing something into her scroll and showing it to Jaune.

 **Well that was cheesy.** it said. **We should probably continue with our 'date' now, before I head back to work.**

"You're right," Jaune agreed, extending his arm. Neo smirked and looped her own arm around his, and the two began walking down the streets of Vale once more.

...

Melody watched the two from afar, her face twisted into a scowl. 'That fucking skank,' she thought, clenching her fists. She had been watching the scene for awhile, having secretly followed Jaune back to his 'home' since he ditched her. So...this Neo girl was the one who was stealing her whore away? Melody would normally not be afraid of confronting the girl, but something about the mute rubbed off on the prostitute the wrong way. It was like her instincts were telling her that the Neo girl was dangerous, and to stay away.

Melody's instincts were never wrong. It was a perk of being a faunus.

She continued to stare at the couple(?) until they completely vanished from view. Then, Melody turned her attention back to the warehouse the two had come from. She walked towards the front entrance, and upon trying to open it she found that it was locked. "Dammit," she hissed. She backed away and began searching around. If she couldn't get in through the front, there had to be another way...

She saw that the only window in her general area was about twenty feet above her. Gritting her teeth, she wondered how the hell she was going to get up there. Oh well...either way she had to do step one. Picking up a good sized rock after a minute long search, she hurled it up with all her strength. The rock fell short of its target, and plummeted back to the ground. Melody groaned and picked up again. She tried once more, and this time the rock smashed through the window, creating an entrance way.

It took several minutes of trial and error, but eventually Melody made it through the window, and now she was staring at the twenty foot drop leading inside. Biting her lip, she searched for any safe way to get down, but there was none. However, Melody did noticed the couch not too far off. If she could just make it, then maybe she would've get as hurt on the way down. Taking a deep breath, the deer faunus made a leap of faith towards the couch. By some sort of miracle, she made it, the wind knocked out of her as she landed roughly on the cushions, but relatively unharmed.

Groaning, the deer faunus got to her feet, and she looked at her new surroundings. Alright, now step two was completed... Smirking, Melody peeled off her clothing, sitting down on the couch. She spread her legs and slid two fingers inside her, moaning loudly.

Now it was just a matter of time before step three...

...

Neo hopped up and down excitedly, indicating that they had reached their destination. She pointed eagerly, and Jaune followed her finger and raised an eyebrow. "...a Ferris Wheel?" he asked, not sure if Neo was being completely serious or not. Neo nodded, pulling out her scroll and typing a quick message.

 **Not just any Ferris Wheel!** it said. **Vale's famous Goliath Ferris Wheel! So big, that half of it goes underground!**

Now Jaune had lived in the good Kingdom of Vale for all of his life, yet this was the first time he ever heard of such a thing. Still, his curiosity got the best of him, and he allowed Neo to practically drag him towards the attraction. The two waited in line, which was surprisingly long for a Ferris Wheel. Minutes seemed to pass, and Jaune decided to strike up conversation.

"Neo..." he began, but right then the man in charge asked them for their lien. Neo eagerly paid, before she pulled Jaune into the car with her. The man locked the car, gave them a nod, and started the ride back up. The ride was slow, for the most part, simply due to its sheer size. This gave plenty of time for the two to talk. At first, they didn't talk about anything too important. They talked about Jaune's job, his friends, past life experiences, and possible plans for the future.

However, it was when their car reached the very top that things changed. Neo glanced out the window, completely in awe of how beautiful Vale truly looked from such a view. It was sad too, knowing that within just a few short days, it would be destroyed by grimm. Neo bit her lip, but she gasped when she felt a hand wrap around hers. Turning around and blushing, she saw Jaune was also admiring the scenery, his hand softly clasping hers. Neo bit her lip again, and at that moment she decided to make a split second decision.

She glanced outside, noting that she should probably be heading back to Mountain Glenn soon. She pulled out her scroll and typed a message, before showing it to Jaune. **Jaune, I wasn't telling you the full story earlier.**

Jaune looked confused for a moment, before he realized she was talking about right after they left. "So what's the rest of it?" he asked.

'Now or never,' Neo told herself. She couldn't believe she was going to do this, she figured it might be the stupidest thing she had ever done.

But she wanted... _needed_ to prove her feelings. Not just to Jaune, but also to herself.

 **Close your eyes.**

Jaune raised an eyebrow, before his cheeks turned pink and he nodded. "O-Okay..." He did as he was told, closing his eyes. At first, nothing happened. Then suddenly, he felt an unbelievably soft pair of lips connect with his. This wasn't like any other kiss he had received before...it felt right. A kiss he always wanted. This one was tender, soothing, full of not lust, but...

'...love..?'

Jaune opened his eyes, only to see that Neo had vanished, leaving him alone on the Ferris Wheel.

...

 **Some people will love me for this chapter, and some are gonna come at me with pitchforks and torches, I just know it! Anyway, I hope that those of you without pitchforks and torches enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **(And what kind of evil bullshit can Melody be up to?)**


	19. Chapter 19

**THAT GRIMM THAT OFFED REN'S VILLAGE IS REALLY FREAKING TERRIFYING! HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT'S SOME REAL NIGHTMARE FUEL! I CAN'T EVEN! GAH, FREAKIN' VOLUME 4 IS MESSING WITH MY HEAD! (Oh yeah, spolier, I guess..?)**

 ***ahem* Anyway...yeah, there's that. Seriously, it's weird knowing that Volume Four is ending soon, I feel like it had only just started! Anybody else feeling this? Well on to the main point: Last chapter seemed to have received a lot of positive reception, which makes me feel pretty happy! (for once, haha!) All of you seem to be worried about what Melody's scheme is, and oh boy... You're either gonna hate her or REALLY hate me. Probably both! But then there's Nnox Inkuree, the genderless reviewer who just laughs at every moment of misery. Kinda creepy, bro... XD**

 **Enjoy the chapter! (Ah, and one more thing. There is a scene in here that _might_ need a warning label, just because it's a subject that some people are really sensitive about. Nnox will probably dig it, though.)**

 **...**

Pyrrha had a bad feeling. She had a _really_ bad feeling.

She could not explain it, but she knew that _something_ was going to happen! Something that, unless her instincts were wrong, was going to be very, _very_ bad.

She, along with Ren and Nora, were back in their dorm room, having just come back from their bonding time with Jaune. Nora had her headphones on, drowning out the outside world while nodding her head to whatever it was that she was listening. Ren was at their desk, silently playing a game of chess by himself. Pyrrha watched him move a white bishop, taking a black knight. He turned the board around, and frowned as he took the white bishop with an unexpected rook.

The calm boy glanced up, noticing Pyrrha looking his way. He gestured to the board, asking, "Would you like to play?"

Pyrrha gently shook her head. "No thank you," she declined.

Ren raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and returning to his game. As he moved in for check, he glanced back up at the Mistral Champion. "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Pyrrha smiled. "Nothing ever gets by you, does it?" she commented.

"Not usually," Ren agreed. "I have a knack for noticing people's moods." He scooted his chair away from the desk, the white queen taking the black king. He moved over to Pyrrha's bed, sitting down next to her. Pyrrha noticed that Nora was also listening to their conversation. "So, what's wrong?" Ren asked.

Pyrrha sighed. "I'm just worried..."

"About Jaune?"

Pyrrha scoffed and playfully punched Ren's shoulder. "How am I supposed to talk about my problems if you keep reading my mind?"

Ren shrugged and simply returned the smirk.

Pyrrha shook her head in false annoyance, before her face grew serious. "Yes, it's Jaune," she admitted. "I just...have this strange feeling...It's hard to explain."

Nora pouted and tutted. "Aw, don't say things like that and worry us, Pyrrha!" she said. "Jaune-Jaune's fine, I'm sure of it!"

"She's right, you know," Ren added. "It's only natural that you'd be worried. After all, we only just got him back." His eyes hardened slightly. "But we can't always be there for him. Whether we like it or not, he needs to come to us first. If he can handle it on his own, he will. If he needs our help he'll have it."

Pyrrha thought about Ren's words for a few moments, before she nodded reluctantly. "You're right," she finally agreed. "I'm just being paranoid..."

"Don't worry about it!" Nora exclaimed. "After all, what's the worst that could happen?"

Pyrrha bit her lip, before nodding once more. "Yeah..." she muttered. "What's the worst that could happen?"

...

Was it just his imagination, or did the world seem more colorful than it had before?

Jaune aimlessly wandered the streets, eyes trained upward as he saw various shades of pink, brown, and white filling out the city like a beautiful, soul touching painting. People stared at him strangely as he walked past them, perhaps it may have been because of that silly grin plastered on his face. Those people wouldn't understand, though. Were _they_ just kissed by the most beautiful woman in all of Remnant?

No. Jaune certainly didn't think so.

He could still feel Neo's lingering lips against his, the soft feeling that had enveloped them. Pure, simple, filled with something that went much deeper than drunken lust ever could. The scene was too perfect, almost cliche. Two teenagers at the top of the Ferris Wheel, the only two left in the world, sharing a small, sweet kiss.

Jaune felt his cheeks heat up, and he shook his head, smacking himself. 'Get a hold of yourself, Jaune!' he scolded himself. 'You're not a lovesick puppy, for Pete's sake!'

But hey, he couldn't help it! Neo's kiss wasn't _entirely_ unexpected, but it still took the former knight by surprise. He never knew that the pint sized criminal was capable of something so...earnest. When they first met, Neo was so hellbent on getting in his pants, yet something compelled Jaune to warm up to her. Somehow, he knew that there must have been more to the girl than meets the eye. The kiss she had gave him proved that.

 _She's not another Melody._

That phrase continued to echo through Jaune's mind, and before he could stop himself his scroll was in his hand, his thumb hovering over Neo's contact. He furrowed his brow. Now that they had officially kissed, what did that make them now? Could they somehow manage to forget about it, and move on like nothing happened? Or could they use it to propel their relationship further? Would Neo even _want_ a relationship? Was she up to the idea of dating? She had teasingly called their outings 'dates' before, but she wasn't actually being serious about those, right?

Or was she, and Jaune was just too dense to notice the signs?

The former Beacon student groaned, and shoved his scroll back into his pocket. Why were girls so confusing?

Something crunched under his boot, and Jaune realized he was back at the warehouse. He took out the spare key that Neo had given him before she had departed on her 'mission' or whatever, when something crunched under his boots again. Glancing down, he lifted his foot, staring at the broken glass in confusion. "What the..." he muttered, stepping away. His eyes slowly trailed upwards, until he saw the broken window above the door.

Jaune's eyes widened as he began to panic. Did someone break in? And if they did, were they still inside?! Jaune gulped, and began backing away from the warehouse door. What should he do? Call the police? Call Pyrrha? He frowned and shook his head, mentally scolding himself for not thinking of the consequences. Neo _was_ a criminal, after all. Having the police arrive at what was basically the ice cream girl's base...it just wouldn't work out for the better in the end.

He was going to have to confront the intruder on his own.

Taking a deep breath, Jaune searched the area for anything he could use as a weapon. Spying a large chunk of broken concrete, the former knight picked it up and tested its weight. About the same weight as Crocea Mors' shield... Sighing, the blonde pulled out his key once more, and slowly unlocked the door. It swung open ominously, revealing dark, hopefully empty shadows inside.

Jaune took a single step inside, and the moment he did he quickly sprinted to the nearest light switch, throwing on the light. He scanned the living room, but didn't see anything unusual. He stepped towards the couch, and something on his caught his eye. 'A stain?' he wondered. 'Was that there before?' He reached out and placed his hand on it, instantly yanking it back a second later. 'It's...still wet!' he realized. If it was still wet, then it was still recent!

He heard a low noise from another part of the warehouse, echoing throughout the building. Jaune tensed up, sweat beginning to run down his forehead and neck, and he starting to shake. He growled and slapped himself. "Calm down!" he hissed. "You were a huntsman in training, dammit! You can handle something small like this!"

That managed to boost his confidence...barely.

He heard the moan again, this time louder than before. It was coming from... Jaune gulped. His room. The moaning was coming from his room. He could feel his heart thumping against his rib cage, and he wondered why the intruder was still here. What was their goal? To simply terrorize a poor former Beacon student?

He now stood outside his room, staring at the door as he listened to the moaning. They were sexual, as if a woman was just about to orgasm. They sounded familiar, but Jaune couldn't place his finger on it. He glanced back down at the broken chunk of concrete in his hand, gripping it tightly. The former knight raised it high above his head, and with his other hand he turned the doorknob and threw open the door, just as the moaning stopped.

Jaune stepped inside his room, noting that it appeared to be empty. However, he knew there was someone inside...there had to be! He turned around, but there was no one behind him. He checked all around him, but besides the occasional wet spot like the one on the couch, there wasn't anything to be found. He sighed and shook his head, realizing that whoever the intruder was must have scurried out out of the room once he was inside. After all, he didn't think to close the door...

"Idiot..." he sighed, leaving his room. The concrete then suddenly slipped from his fingers, landing right on his toes. The former knight gasped and yelped, hopping up and down as he ginger touched his foot. "Dammit," he groaned. "Gotta get some ice..."

Jaune began hobbling towards the kitchen, his eyes still on the lookout for the intruder. When he was halfway there he mentally slapped himself for leaving his makeshift weapon behind, but he did not turn around to go retrieve it. Finally, he reached the kitchen and opened the freezer, grabbing the ice tray and setting it down on the table. He then opened a drawer and pulled out a plastic bag. Collapsing onto the chair, he slowly and gently slid off his shoe, and began pouring the ice into the bag.

He heard a footstep from behind.

Whipping his head around, Jaune opened his mouth to speak when his face was suddenly smothered by a damp rag. He began to panic, but a surprisingly strong arm held him down. Then, the blonde's vision began to turn blurred, and dark shadows surrounded the corners of it. They soon enveloped his sight, and Jaune slumped down, unconscious.

...

"...aune..."

What was that?

"...Jaune...time to wake up~"

A sultry voice pierced the darkness, and Jaune's heavy eyelids slowly lifted. His vision was still blurry, and he had a massive headache. Groaning, he moved his head from side to side, in some attempt to fix his vision. Finally, things started clearing up, and soon he could see...for the most part. He could tell he was on his bed, and that he was fully stripped out of his clothing. He tried to move, but something was restraining him. Turning his head, he saw that his hands were being held by belts, which were strapped to the bedposts. His feet were strapped as well, leaving him completely immobile.

Fear washed over Jaune, and when he heard the familiar giggle his blood ran white.

"Glad to see you're finally up, Jauney boy." Melody said, stepping into his field of vision, her nude body out on display for him. Jaune couldn't help but noticed the tattoo on her stomach, which depicted a cat-like creature with three claw marks. He briefly wondered why he never noticed it before now... Melody then ball changed, causing her breasts to bounce seductively. Well, it would be seductive if Jaune had no relation to this woman.

"M-Melody!" the blonde gasped. "What's going on? Why am I tied up?" Though, he felt like he already knew the answer, and it terrified him.

Melody giggled once more. Jaune hated that noise, it was full of malice and fake innocence. "Oh Jauney, what do you think?" she asked him, before she answered her own question, crawling over him and leaning in to whisper, "I'm here to reclaim my man, of course..."

A lump formed in Jaune's throat, and he quickly shook his head. "W-W-Wait..." he breathed. "Don't do this, please untie me! I'm sorry for being a jerk, just don't do this!"

"Too late," Melody teased, pumping his flaccid member with her hand. "I haven't had a good fuck since you ran out on me, Jaune! I want this, I _need_ this!" She leaned in closer and began rubbing her tits up and down his chest, licking his earlobe teasingly. Much to Jaune's shame, his body reacted naturally, his member hardening in the deer faunus's hand. "Oh~" Melody hummed. "Looks like someone is finally ready."

"Please, don't..." Jaune pleaded, hating himself for not being able to stop this. Melody ignored him and slid down, sticking the boy's cock between her tits. She hummed in a sicken sweet way, squeezing his cock.

"Does that feel nice, Jaune?" she asked, leaning down to swirl her tongue around his tip. She moaned in satisfaction, muttering to herself, "I missed this dick so much..."

It didn't feel good, and yet it did. The fact that there was conflict made Jaune want to punch himself. He squirmed uncomfortably in his binds, a vain attempt to shake the faunus off. Melody responded simply by engulfing his dick in her mouth, deepthroating him. Jaune couldn't help but moan, and he squeezed his eyes shut as sperm shot out of his dick, which Melody effortlessly swallowed. She slid her mouth off his cock with a _plop,_ and when she smiled her teeth were covered in cum.

"Ah~" she breathed. "I knew you were enjoying that."

Tears poured down Jaune's face, and he gritted his teeth and looked away, ashamed. "Please...don't..."

Melody ignored his words, and turned his head, making him look at her. His eyes widened when he saw the scroll in her hand. The faunus chuckled darkly. "I was digging through your pockets and found that girl's number, the one you were with today," she explained, licking her teeth. "I wonder how she'll feel when she gets a video of us fucking... Oh, I can only imagine that'd she'd be heartbroken. What would she say?" She tapped her chin in thought. "Maybe nothing... Maybe she'll be so crushed that she jumps off of a bridge or something!" She began laughing, her tits bouncing with each breath. "Wouldn't that be tragic?"

A fire burned inside Jaune, and he began struggling with his bonds even more. "You bitch!" he cursed. "How could you do this?! Can't I just be fucking happy for once?! Keep Neo out of this!"

A harsh slap stung his cheek, silencing him instantly. Melody glared at him with eyes that could stop a beowolf in its tracks. "Listen here, you fucking bastard," she hissed, voice dangerously low. "You're nothing without me, got it? I could've chosen any guy I wanted, but I chose _you!"_ She leaned in and bit his ear, causing him to cry out in pain. She pulled away just enough to whisper, "Now you're gonna be a good boy and let me fuck you, got it? I would hate to have to use other means of getting what I want..."

Jaune openly began to cry, and all he could do was shake his head as Melody mounted him. She sighed in pleasure as she descended down onto his cock. "It feels so good," she gasped, before looking down at Jaune. She frowned, but then shrugged, pressing record on the scroll. "With a little editing, this should be an easy fix..."

And then she began bouncing up and down his dick, moaning louder than Jaune had ever heard before.

...

Neo hadn't returned to Mountain Glenn quite yet, and instead she was sitting on top of a tall building, staring up at the clouds. A blush was covering her face, and she squirmed in slight embarrassment when she thought back on what she did. 'I can't believe I kissed him like that!' she mentally screamed. 'What if he didn't like it? What if he thinks I'm weird and doesn't want to be with me anymore?' She sighed and buried her face in her hands. 'Oh, God...I hope I didn't mess this up.'

She couldn't deny it at this point. She was in love with Jaune Arc. It was silly to think about, but somehow that lovable bastard did it. She had never been in love with anyone before, so this feeling was strange and new to her. Neo never expected to have these feelings for Jaune, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Jaune was an ideal man to most, including her.

He was kind, caring, unbelievably adorable, was ever so slightly in touch with his feminine side, was always willing to help someone out, and...

'He's Jaune,' she finished.

A buzzing came from her pocket, and she rolled her eyes as she took out her scroll, noticing that she had a new message from an unknown number. 'Murphy?' she wondered. 'White Fang guy? Emerald?'

It was a video file, and after some debate Neo opened it, and she immediately wished she hadn't. Her eyes widened, and her mouth flew to her mouth. Tears began to form, and as much as she wanted to look away, she simply couldn't. Each sound the two people in the video produced broke her heart more and more. 'Please...' she silently begged. 'Let this be a nightmare!'

"Who do you belong to, Jauney boy?" the woman asked as she rapidly jerked him off.

"Y-You!" the boy cried. "J-Just you!"

Neo would've screamed if she was capable. She didn't watch the rest, as she quickly deleted it. She shoved her scroll in her pocket and teleported back to Mountain Glenn, collapsing onto her bed and openly sobbing. A White Fang grunted entered her room in order to tell her something, but quickly left after seeing her state. Neo pounded her pillow over and over.

'You bastard!' she cursed. 'You good for nothing bastard! After today? After all that we've said?' She curled into a ball, shaking her head. 'I guess...I was wrong. I was wrong about you, Jaune Arc. I was wrong about us.'

...

 **Happiness never lasts! :D**

 **But seriously though, it was actually really hard writing this chapter, simply because of that rape scene alone, as well as Neo's reaction. Will things ever go right for our heroes? Will Melody ever get the fucking slaughter she most definitely deserves at this point? Also, you may have noticed the not-subtle-at-all hint I gave of her origins... Welp!**

 **Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Happy Valentine's Day, everybody (#ForeverAlone)! Or at least...that's what I would be saying, had I actually uploaded this on time. Alas, twas not to be. Four days overdue... FOUR! Man, I'm getting old. Anyway, it WAS a good day to be in love, and what better way to have celebrated it than with a healthy dose of teen angst :D (This is not healthy, this is the exact opposite of healthy, dear God someone help me before I drown in my own sorrow #StillForeverAlone). *Ahem* Anyway, last chapter reeeeeally got to people, which I was honestly expecting. After all, it was a pretty touchy subject, and even I had to stop writing to get a grip over myself. And sorry to say it, but it probably won't get much better for awhile :/ Still got some crap to go through before the story can get happy again.**

 **But hey, I finally changed the genre to 'angst'! That should satisfy some of you! :D Enjoy the chapter, everyone! (Even though it's later than I wanted.)**

 **...**

"Well that wasn't too bad, was it?" Melody asked as she finished fixing her hair. She sighed in content and straightened out her clothing, before turning back to Jaune. "Felt good, didn't it?" Her grin turned malicious. "The way you moaned my name...still gets me wet!"

Jaune, naked and laying on the bed, said nothing. He blankly stared up at the ceiling, eyes void of any emotion. Melody frowned briefly, but shrugged in the end and stepped out of the room. Before she closed the door, the deer faunus poked her head back in and said, "I'll be back some other time, Jauney-boy!"

"...why...?"

Melody paused, and turned back to the traumatized boy. "Hmm?" she hummed.

Briefly, Jaune's eyes met Melody's. They held nothing inside them, and to most it would've been a tragedy to see. Not to Melody, however. "The tattoo..." he whispered, barely loud enough for the faunus to hear. "Took me...awhile...to recognize it...You're White Fang..." He blinked slowly, before turning to look away. "Why...are you doing this...? Is it...because...I'm human?"

Melody chuckled, and scratched the back of her head. "Y'noticed that, huh?" she asked. "Well, I _used_ to be part of the White Fang, but I quit for my own reasons..." She narrowed her eyes dangerously and licked her lips. "Don't think you're the only kid I've taken under my wing, Jauney-boy, I've been running this for years. I'm smart enough to know that us faunus will never truly be equal, so I decided to be superior in my own way." She laughed softly. "All of those whores I've turned humans into...it's beautiful, it's delicious. You're the latest in the bunch, Jaune, and one of the best I've had. Don't think I'm letting you go too soon..."

She slammed the door shut behind her and walked out of the warehouse, leaving Jaune on his own. The blonde laid there in silence for a few moments, before he quietly began to cry. Small sniffles, thin tears. Eventually, the crying escalated to loud sobbing, and Jaune fell off the bed as he did so. His knees hurt from the landing, but he didn't care. Tears dropped onto the floor and he tried his best not to scream in a mixture of frustration, fear, and shame. He pounded his fist onto the floor over and over again, not stopping until the skin began to scrape away.

How could he let this happen?! How could he be so fucking powerless?! Why didn't he fight back, why was he so weak?!

Jaune felt something rise to his mouth, and he opened to allow all of the bile to pour out. He stared at it for a few moments before he rose to his feet, his legs shaking. He took a deep breath and wiped his tears away, before making an effort to recollect his clothing that was thrown around carelessly by Melody. As he slowly put his clothes back on, the scale of the situation hit him once again.

He had been raped.

Even worse, apparently Melody had been doing this for years! 'How many people like me have fallen victim of her?' he wondered, shuddering. It was people like her that gave faunus a bad name, that was for sure... Jaune narrowed his eyes and leaned against a wall, taking another deep gasp of a breath. How many people were lost because of her? How many men did she drive to suicide, just like he nearly had?

The former knight stumbled and nearly threw up once more, but by some miracle he managed to hold it in. A glint caught his eye, and when he turned he saw his scroll laying on the ground. He fell to his knees and crawled towards it, snatching it up and holding it gingerly in his hands. "Neo..." he whispered. Should he try to call her? Text her? Explain what had happened? Jaune narrowed his eyes. No, he probably couldn't get a hold of the pint sized criminal, she did explain that her workplace had a very low connection. Still...could he at least try?

Jaune pressed the video call option, and held his breath as it rang. After a few rings, he got the message he had been expecting. _"The number you're trying to reach is not available. It's possible they have poor service or have been disconnected. Thank you for your time."_

It was honestly like a stab to the heart. The one person he wanted to talk to, and she wasn't even available. Although, even if she was, who to say she would willingly answer? If Melody really did send that video...

His self-hatred at the moment was replaced by anger, and with surprising force he slammed his fist into the wall, creating a small dent. He let out a growl of frustration and punched the wall a second time, leaving another dent. 'Dammit!' he thought. 'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'

...what was he going to do? How the hell was he going to get out of this one? His scroll buzzed, and he couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement as he glanced at it, but it soon faded to a mixture of disappointment and horror.

Melody had sent him a nude, and it filled him with disgust.

Jaune stared at it for a few moments, before he angrily pocketed his scroll, turning around to deliver a third and final punch to the wall, this time leaving a fist-sized hole. 'How could this happen?' He closed his eyes. 'Everything started going so well...what did I do to deserve this hell?'

He opened his eyes. 'What am I going to do now, Neo?'

...

Neo was not sure how long she remained on her bed, but at some point she must've cried herself asleep, because she was suddenly jolted awake by a White Fang grunt bursting into her room, panicking. Neo glared up at him, but for once the grunt didn't seem afraid of her. Rather, there was something else going on. "We're moving out," he informed the mute criminal. "Plans have changed, we're boarding the train now!"

Neo raised an eyebrow, but nodded. She watched the nameless faunus sprint out of her room towards the main train, and after a few moments, she followed him. Once she was outside, she could see all of the members of the White Fang scrambling onto the train, shouting orders and curses over each other as the sound of distant gunshots were heard. Neo teleported inside the train, wondering why they were moving out days before the original plan. Was it a Grimm invasion? Neo narrowed her eyes. Impossible, there was no way the Grimm could enter the tunnels without the assistance of the bombs, and even she knew the grunts weren't stupid enough to accidentally set one off.

That could only mean one thing...they were being attacked by hunters. 'How'd they find us?' she wondered as she caught sight of the White Fang Lieutenant shouting orders. He glanced over at her, and stormed towards her.

"There you are!" he growled. "The hell were you?! We have a team of huntresses taking us out, so we need to move!" He stamped his foot on the floor, pointing down with his finger. "You stay right here," he ordered, "if any huntress comes through, kill them."

Neo nodded, and the White Fang Lieutenant left her on her own. The moment he was gone, Neo sat down on one of the crates and sighed. She didn't need this, life was just a string of bad luck now, wasn't it? 'Damn him,' she thought, her mind drifting back to what she had seen hours earlier.

How could this happen? Was it her? Was she not good enough? Was everything Jaune said just a fucking lie?! Neo clenched her fist. 'Damn this!' she internally growled. 'When I find that bitch, I'll fucking kill her!' She felt tears form, but she wiped them away before they could fully manifest. No, she wasn't going to fucking cry. She shouldn't have been so stupid to let the kid into her life in the first place. 'This is why you became a criminal,' she reminded herself. 'To stop getting close to people, to stop getting hurt by those you trusted.' She remembered her father, that son of a bitch. A fat, abusive monster who probably would've killed Neo if she hadn't finally ran away when she did.

She had slowly learned that it was better to not trust anyone. She didn't even trust Roman, despite their partnership. The man cared only about himself in the end, Neo was just too valuable to let go of.

Jaune was the first person she trusted.

He was the only person she had trusted. But now...

'Damn bastard,' she cursed, slamming her tiny fist into a crate. How could she have _allowed_ this to happen? Why did she even open up to him? The scraggly idiot was only supposed to be a fuck buddy at best! And yet...somehow she fell in love with him. That adorable charm, his surprising wit, those ocean blue eyes, his innocent yet inspiring desire to better himself...

Neo felt the heat rise to her cheeks, and she angrily slapped them as she kicked her legs out. 'Stop it!' she scolded herself.

She was angry. She was angry at herself, Jaune, the White Fang, and _especially_ the fucking slut that was riding Jaune in that video.

 _"Who do you belong to, Jauney boy?"_

 _"Y-You! J-Just you!"_

Why would he say something like that? So soon after that special moment on the Ferris Wheel? Did she really not mean that much to him? Was she just something he was planning on throwing away whenever he was bored? Neo gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, afraid that if she kept them open she would end up crying. If anyone saw her being so vulnerable...

'Jaune...' she thought. 'I love you, goddammit! Don't you feel the same?' Apparently he did not, unless...

Her pink and brown eyes burst open. Unless...oh no.

'Oh, that slut is fucking _dead!'_ her mind roared, and she stood up and turned around, prepared to teleport back to Vale, when...

Three huntresses stood in front of her, and Neo recognized two of them from the dance the other night. The other, however...she was somewhat familiar with.

Recognition flashed in Yang Xiao Long's eyes, and she took a step forward, reloading her shotgun gauntlets. Eyes locked with Neo's, she said to her teammates, "You guys go on ahead, this one's mine." The two other huntresses in training shared a glance, before nodding and darting past Neo. The ice cream themed villain paid them no mind as Yang slowly approached her. "I remember telling you that'd I'd be kicking your ass the moment Jaune ain't here," she said. "So...where is he?"

Neo narrowed her eyes and simply gripped her parasol in response.

"Not around, huh?" Yang deduced. A cocky grin flashed across her face. "Good." Without missing a beat, the blonde bombshell charged, throwing a hay maker right at Neo's face. Neo ducked underneath it, and used the hook of her parasol to yank the huntress down. The villain leaped into the air and cracked her heel against Yang's skull, sending her face first to the floor. Yang instantly sprang back up, but Neo was already cartwheeling out of harm's way. Yang growled in frustration and fired her weapon, but Neo used her semblance to move out of the way.

Yang glanced backwards and caught Neo's kick, and she tugged the small woman down and attempted to throw an uppercut. Neo twisted herself out of Yang's grip and expertly weaved through the brawler's attacks. Yang was growing more and more frustrated, her strikes becoming more clumsy. Neo smirked and backflipped out of harm's way, landing on top of a crate. She sat down and crossed one leg over the other, taunting her opponent with a casual smirk.

It was a strategy Neo had learned years ago, and it always favored her well. Nothing will piss off a fighter more than someone who does nothing but taunt and dodge. It suited her lithe form, so Neo was quick to pick up on the style. It was proving to be extremely effective against Yang, and the ice cream themed assassin predicted that this fight would be over quickly.

Yang stomped over to Neo and attempted _another, painfully predictable_ punch. Neo internally sighed as she deflected it with her parasol, spinning off of the crate and landing on the other side of the train car. "Hold still, dammit!" Yang roared, her eyes flashing red. Neo just shook her head as Yang charged. The pint sized criminal decided it was time to end this, and when Yang came into range she made her move. She grabbed Yang's arm and weaved her way all around the huntress, throwing her into the air and causing her to roughly crash into the ceiling. Like a rag doll, the blonde bombshell collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Neo stared at her fallen opponent for a few moments, before she frowned and slowly unsheathed the slim sword hidden inside her parasol. She approached Yang, feeling an unusual amount of disgust for what she was about to do. After all, this was one of Jaune's friends.

Oh, what did it matter?! She was a trained assassin, this was what she was supposed to be doing without any hesitation! Neo narrowed her eyes, torn between what she should do. Kill Yang, and risk losing Jaune forever...or spare her, but risk Cinder's wrath.

Eventually, Neo sighed and sheathed the sword, backing away slowly. 'You owe me for this,' she silently told the bombshell, before teleporting away. When her vision returned after a brief moment of darkness, Neo found herself in front of the warehouse that served as her current home.

Earlier she had finally realized what had happened to Jaune, and she scolded herself for being foolish and not realizing it earlier. Jaune had been raped...he was fucking _raped!_ Neo clenched her fist and took a deep breath, and she was about to enter when she heard someone behind her clear their throat. Neo whipped around and spotted a deer faunus smirking at her, and the criminal's eyes widened as she recognized who the woman in front of her was.

This was her. The one that did all of this to Jaune.

"He's not here right now, if you were wondering," the faunus explained. "He left about ten minutes ago. Not that he'd want to see you anyway." The woman laughed, and Neo grinded her teeth together. The woman stopped laughing and reached into her pocket, pulling out her scroll. "Surely you must've seen the video of him and I, fucking the other's brains out." Her smirk turned malicious. "He doesn't need you anymore, now that I'm here."

"..." Neo's grip on her parasol tightened, and she was preparing to slit the bitch's throat with it.

Said bitch clicked her tongue. "Do you really think he wants to be with you?" she asked. "A tiny, mute criminal who can't even make the first move herself? Why does he need that when he can have this?" The woman cupped her tits and gave them a suggestive squeeze. "Whoever you are, why don't you just crawl back to whatever hole you came from. Jaune is mine now, cunt-"

Neo rushed at the faunus, preparing to strike her down before she could utter another word. However, the criminal was shocked when the faunus actually _blocked_ the attack. The faunus was holding a simple baton, and it was a good one. The deer faunus looked at Neo's face and chuckled. "You don't survive being in the White Fang for so long without picking up a few tips on how to fight, you know," she explained.

'This may be tougher than I thought,' Neo noted.

...

Jaune didn't speak when Junior tried asking him what was wrong, he didn't want to speak. He just wanted his drink ,and whatever else he could get his hands on, and then he'd go home. Sighing, the former knight chugged down the rest of his drink before turning to the small pill that laid next to the mug. It was a pill designed to give off a sort of high effect, if Jaune remembered correctly. Right now, he figured he could really use some of that stuff.

Without hesitation, he popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it effortlessly, and almost immediately high started to kick in. He chuckled quietly, staring up at the ceiling while Junior watched with worry.

"Life's just one clusterfuck after the other, Junior," Jaune giggled, grinning. "I get expelled, I become homeless, I sucked dick for money, nearly threesomed my friends, I fell in love, and now I was just violated by a fucking bitch." He glanced back at the bartender. "It's all gone to shit..." He ended this with another fit of giggles.

"Kid, you're worrying me," Junior admitted. "And being high isn't any good for you." He gestured towards the backdoor. "C'mon, I'll set you up a room. You can rest there."

"Hehe...don't wanna."

Before they could bicker further, they both heard it. An alarm. The city alarm. Almost instantly Junior rushed out from behind the bar and grabbed Jaune's arm, yanking him to his feet. "Alright, kid, we gotta get you to a room."

"What's going on...?"

Junior shrugged. "Hell if I know, but that alarm can only mean bad news. I'm gonna get you someplace safe."

Jaune shrugged off the bearded man and walked towards the front doors, muttering, "I wanna see what's going on..."

"Kid, don't!"

The warning came too late. Jaune threw open the doors, only to come face to face with a large beowolf...and its entire pack. "Oh fuck," he grumbled.

...

 **Neo vs Melody! Jaune and Junior vs wolf pack! Grimm invasion! YAY! Anyway, uh...yeah, I don't really have much to say other than my crush may or may not have teased me with her bikini and honestly I might as well kill myself. Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Alrighty, I am SO sorry this took so long to get updated! Shit's been going constantly downhill, and I'm pretty much at the end of my rope at this point. That, and whenever I did want to write the internet had lovely timing when it came to shutting down. It was great, I'm great. On a brighter note, I got to take the girl I've been head over heels for to prom! It was a lot of fun, much better than I was expecting it to turn out!**

 **But anyway, enough about that, let's just get on with the chapter!**

 **...**

"Shit!" Junior cursed the moment he saw the pack of beowolves at his doorstep. "Kid! Close the fucking door!"

It was too late, though. Junior watched in horror as the pack leader threw the young blonde to the side, its sights set on the real prize. Junior gulped as the beowolf howled, before it charged straight towards him. Junior snapped back to his senses just in time to dodge the alpha beowolf's strike, though he winced when he heard his precious booze shatter. He glanced behind him as he scrambled away, frowning when he saw exactly which drinks were now splattered on the floor.

'Oh, Blondie's gonna be pissed,' he thought as he reached underneath the bar and pulled out a double barrel shotgun he kept around to dispute any trouble going on during business hours. Every since the blonde bombshell trashed his baseball bat/rocket launcher combo, he's been forced to use this less impressive firearm.

Turning around, the bartender fired point blank at the alpha, sending it flying back onto its back. Junior smirked in victory, but his confidence faded when the alpha rose to its feet, looking more pissed off than anything else. The alpha beowolf felt its chest, which was warm and sticky with blood. Snarling, it batted the shotgun out of Junior's hands before lifting him into the air. It licked its fangs in what could be sick, twisted glee, but before it could put an end to the bartender it froze, mouth wide open. Suddenly, the beast collapsed, dropping Junior to his knees. The bartender took a deep breath and glanced up.

"Thanks, girls," he said, nodding. The twins each gave a little curtsy, before the sharpened their blades and charged towards the rest of the pack. Junior crawled over to where his shotgun lay and picked it up. He rose to his feet and looked down on what was happening. So far, so good. The twins and his goons were dispatching beowolf after beowolf, and the pack was beginning to thin out.

'I'll have to give all of them a raise,' he realized, frowning.

Eh, a small price to pay. At least most of the club was still intact.

Junior suddenly remembered Jaune, and his eyes scanned for any sign of the former knight. He finally saw him laying in the middle of the dance floor, unconscious. He was breathing, though blood ran down his forehead. Junior let out a sigh of relief and, assuming his boys would keep the grimm busy, jogged over to where Jaune laid.

He stopped and kneeled down beside the kid. "You're a lucky son of a bitch," he murmured, hoisting him over his broad shoulders. "Stupid, but lucky." He then turned to the battle. "Girls!" he called.

The twins turned around, casually listening as they elegantly avoided swing after swing from the beowolves.

"I'm going to take the kid to one of the back rooms, alright?" he explained. "Think you could hold off the rest of these grimm?"

Miltia nodded and stabbed her claws through a beowolf's skull. Melanie merely grunted in response as she slashed open another's throat with her heels. Junior chuckled and headed for the back, leaving his goons to finish the fight.

The "back rooms" typically served as a place for the twins and the goons to sleep. Most of the goons were actually pretty poor, and Junior wasn't _completely_ heartless. The bartender kicked one of the rooms open, stomping inside and carefully (sorta) dumping Jaune on the bed that occupied the space. Junior exhaled through his nose and shook his head as he looked down at the unconscious teen. "What the hell am I going to do with you, kid?" he muttered, glancing back towards the direction of the battle. "I just got the place cleaned up. too."

"...ugh..."

Junior's eyes widened. "Kid?!"

Slowly, Jaune's eyes pried themselves open. They looked dull, tired, and pained all at once, and Junior frowned at the sight. Jaune's eyes stared straight ahead for a few seconds, before swiveling towards Junior. "J-Junior...?" he rasped out.

Immediately the bartender flicked the former knight's forehead, causing him to wince. "You're a damn idiot," he growled, clenching his fists. "If you didn't already take that blow from the beowolf I would punch your fucking lights out."

Jaune cracked half a smile and closed his eyes. "Glad...to see you...too, Junior."

Junior sighed and sat down on the bed. "I wonder what's going on..." he muttered. "Grimm? In the city? How?" He rubbed his chin with his hand. "What do you think, kid?" He turned to Jaune, who still had his eyes closed.

The blonde's ocean blue eyes flickered open again, and his lips tightened together. "Junior..." he began slowly, cautiously. "Do you think...Neo...would forgive me?"

Junior blinked. "Huh?" He shook his head. "Kid, the hell are you talking about? I know you came in here for drinks and drugs, but what the hell does that little psychopath have anything to do with it?"

Jaune didn't respond for a few moments, but he eventually let out a sigh. "Maybe she hates me..." he whispered, voice barely reaching the bartender's ears. "Maybe I deserve it..."

'Dammit, I didn't sign up for this bullshit,' Junior thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but can we worry about that later? We have grimm invading the city, for fuck's sake!"

Jaune hesitantly nodded. "Y-Yeah..." His eyes drifted shut. "But I'm so...tired..."

'Fuck,' Junior cursed as Jaune passed out.

...

Okay, this was bad. This was very, _very_ bad!

Ruby swung her scythe and sliced through an ursa's skull, but for every grimm that was cut down, it was like two more appeared in its place. Ruby dodged the charge of a strange, bipedal dinosaur thingy that she had never seen before, and watched as it was swiftly cut down by Weiss. The ice queen shared a glance with her, and the two noted their shared panting. Weiss then turned away and ran towards the next batch of enemies, leaving Ruby on her own.

Ruby didn't know how close they were to eliminating all of the grimm, but she prayed that it would be over soon. Right now, it was just the four of them against an entire grimm army, and their energy was rapidly depleting. The young huntress in training her the sound of growling behind her, and she just managed to flip over the ursa's strike. She swung Crescent Rose, striking the monster's torso.

To her horror, it barely flinched, and Ruby stumbled back as the ursa major rose to its full height, towering over anything Ruby had ever seen before. The ursa licked its razor sharp teeth and raised its large paw, ready to crush the young girl underneath its sheer strength.

"Not on my watch!" a familiar bubbly voice cried out, and an explosion of pink came from the ursa's back. It swayed for a moment before it collapsed onto the ground, motionless. Nora cheered as she hopped on top of the ursa, thrusting her mighty hammer into the air. "Ten points for the valkyrie!" she cried, before hopping off. She hummed a small tune and turned to Ruby. "So...what's going on?"

Ruby glanced behind the berserker and caught sight of both Ren and Pyrrha working together to dispatch a king taijitsu. "Grimm have invaded the city," she explained. "We've been trying to hold them off, but-" A familiar blonde knight appeared in her mind, causing Ruby to gasp. "Jaune!" she squeaked, grabbing Nora's shoulders. "Jaune's somewhere in the city! What if the grimm reach him?!"

Nora's expression turned serious as she shrugged off the young scythe-wielder. "Got it," she said, gripping her hammer tighter. "You try to keep the grimm here, I'll go find Jaune."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Nora..." This was the first time Ruby had seen Nora act so serious about something, it was a little nerve-racking. However, Ruby managed to nod. "Okay, good luck."

"You too." Nora suddenly broke into a grin, and with a surprising burst of speed, left Ruby's side. "I'm coming, Jaune-Jaune!"

Ruby stared after Nora, watching her disappear behind some buildings. Jaune would be safe, Nora would find him and take care of him...

"Ruby, look!" Yang's voice called from some distance. Ruby turned towards her sister, seeing the blonde bombshell pointing at the sky. The young huntress-in-training followed her sister's arm, and her eyes widened and a smile broke on her face. A collection of bullhead's were racing across the sky, dropping Atlas' newest robotic soldiers onto the battlefield. The moment their feet hit the ground, the robots immediately began opening fire on the grimm, cutting them down with deadly accuracy.

"NEVER FEAR!" a bellowing voice shouted. "PETER PORT IS HERE!"

Professor Port appeared in Ruby's line of sight, swiftly cutting down a boarbatusk with surprising speed and agility. Behind him, Team CFVY were dealing with a horde of surrounding grimm, displaying power Ruby could only find herself dreaming of achieving.

"Junior detectives, on the case!" Sun and Neptune had joined the battle, the monkey-tailed faunus using his staff to deflect a blow aimed at Blake. Further away, Ruby saw the mysterious transfer students from Haven also holding their own.

They were winning! They were finally getting the advantage over the grimm! Her fighting spirit renewed, Ruby jumped into the air with a cheer, before propelling herself forward back into the fray.

...

 _"You're not Jaune. The Jaune I knew would never give up. He was a brave and caring leader, someone we all loved with all our hearts. But now...I can't even look at you..."_

This was the street she first met Jaune after he was expelled, Nora recalled. She frowned and leaned against the wall, the memories of that argument returning to her. Those words...they were harsh, and part of her regretted saying them. The other part of her argued that because of them, that may have been the start of Jaune's healing process.

She hoped it was the latter. The last thing she ever wanted was to hurt him.

She remembered thinking of him as only a stranger. The Jaune she met that night was not the one she knew at Beacon. She felt so angry. Angry at him for becoming that way, and angry at herself for doing nothing to help him. Nora slid down the wall, sitting and resting her hammer on her lap.

Yet...something changed him. Or rather, someone. She remembered Yang mentioning someone at the dance. Was there someone in Jaune's life? Someone who changed it for the better? If so, she would have to thank them someday.

'Enough of that,' Nora told herself, hoisting herself up. 'I've gotta find Jaune.'

The last time she saw the former knight was at _Freezy Cool,_ so should she check that area? For some reason, Nora's instincts told her no. She should continue down this street, cover the entire area. If he wasn't here somewhere, _then_ she would head off in that direction. "Jaune, please be safe..." she whispered to herself as she continued walking down the street.

There was a lot of ground to cover, she noted as she circled the block. That, and there weren't any grimm around... Relaxing a little, Nora shifted Magnhild to its grenade launcher form and strapped it on her back. Taking a risk, she cupped her hands at her mouth and called out, "Jaune-Jaune! Where are you?!"

No answer. Of course.

Nora sighed and started heading off towards the direction of _Freezy Cool,_ when she suddenly heard something. Perking her head up, she paid close attention, closing her eyes and letting the sounds flow into her ear.

'Is there...fighting going on?' she wondered, eyes opening. 'Between two people?'

That was strange... Narrowing her eyes, Nora jogged towards the direction of the fight, concluding that as a huntress-in-training, it was her duty to investigate. 'Maybe one of them is the one who did all of this?'

The sounds led her out into the open, and she skidded to a halt. "A warehouse?" she muttered. Then, she heard the sound of two weapons clashing, and she tore her eyes away from the massive building to look further down.

It was between a deer faunus and a diminutive, multi-colored girl. The former wielded a simple baton while the latter had a more exotic weapon of choice: a parasol. The two were weaving through each other's attack, both equally tiring out despite neither apparently suffering any blows. The faunus hissed something at the human that Nora didn't pick up, but it seemed to spark a reaction from the pink, brown, and white girl. She suddenly lashed out in anger, but the faunus slid away, laughing.

Nora wasn't sure who was in the right or who was in the wrong, but she still had to stop them. "Hey!" she shouted, catching their attention. "What do you think you're doing?!"

The faunus sneered and twisted away from the human girl, reaching into her knee high boot. She pulled out a dagger, and with surprising speed, hurled it straight at Nora before she had time to react.

...

The fight was getting them nowhere, Neo noticed as she blocked a strike from Melody. The two had very similar styles of combat, focusing on evasion and defense in order to tire the opponent out. It was almost like fighting a copy of herself. Melody seemed to figure that out as well, because soon she was backing away, practically forcing Neo to be on the constant offensive. This wasn't what Neo wanted...This wasn't suited to her, she was now at a disadvantage.

Thinking quickly, she teleported behind Melody and struck at her with a high kick. The faunus caught it and shoved Neo away, charging and swinging her baton immediately after. Neo countered with an illusion, and Melody struck only a copy that shattered from her blow. Growling, the faunus ducked underneath another one of Neo's kicks, and to the mute criminal's surprise, Melody caught her leg. Grunting, the deer faunus flipped Neo over, but thankfully Neo managed to land on her free foot and twist away.

They both backed away for a few moments, both noting each other's heavy panting. 'This...isn't fair!' Neo internally growled. 'She's not supposed to be this good!'

The two were at it once again, twisting around the other's offenses yet failing to penetrate their defenses. 'I can't lose this,' Neo told herself. 'I have to make this bitch pay for what she did to Jaune!'

"I've heard about you," Melody said as she ducked underneath Neo's parasol. "The dangerous, mute assassin under Roman Torchwick's employ." She licked her lips. "I guess I was expecting...more."

Neo narrowed her eyes. 'Really? Fucking banter?' What did that cow think this was? A fucking comic book? She tried her best to ignore Melody's words, instead putting all her focus on the battle. 'I won't lose! This is for Jaune!'

"Do you really think he'd ever love someone like you?" Melody snarled. "A mute, murdering midget? I have him wrapped around my finger, he'll never be yours!"

'Shut up, shut up, shut up!'

"Oh don't worry," Melody chuckled, "once you're out of the picture, Jaune will be with a _real_ woman. He'll be mine to control, mine to fuck..." She licked her lips. _"Mine to break."_

A fire raged inside Neo, and with a silent roar she increased her assault, not caring about her own defenses. Melody was going to die! She was going to get her fucking throat torn out! 'No one hurts Jaune!' Neo roared. 'No one!'

"Hey!" a new voice suddenly cried. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Melody shoved Neo away and turned to face their surprise visitor. Neo was about to charge again, until she saw who it was that stopped them. 'Is that...the bimbo?' Neo wondered, turning to get a better look.

It certainly was, the friend of Jaune's she saw during the first night she met the blonde. The one from Beacon...What was she doing here?

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dagger fly from Melody's hand towards the Beacon student. When did she get that? Was it a back-up weapon supposed to finish her off? Neo's eyes widened as she realized how much danger Jaune's friend was in. Reacting quickly, she jumped in front of the girl and opened her parasol, blocking the blade and causing it to bounce away. When Neo lowered her parasol, Melody was gone.

'No!' she internally screamed. 'I can't let her get away!' She was about to run, when she suddenly felt someone grab her arm. She turned and saw Jaune's friend gripping her arm and keeping her in place.

 _"Let go!"_ Neo mouthed. _"I can't let her get away!"_

The bimbo tilted her head, before finally reading Neo's lips successfully. "Not until you tell me what this is all about." she said. "Are you the one who brought the grimm into the city?"

Neo didn't answer, she only continued to struggle.

The girl frowned. "I'm guessing that's a yes," she sighed. "Well, uh...Guess I gotta turn you in-"

Neo teleported out of the girl's grasp, then immediately gripped her shoulders. _"You don't understand!"_ she mouthed. _"That faunus hurt Jaune!"_

The bimbo's eyes widened. "What?!" she gasped. "You know Jaune?!"

Neo didn't answer, she turned around and began running. 'I don't have time for this!' she growled.

"Wait!" the bimbo called. "How do you know Jaune! Wait for meeee!"

Neo continued to ignore the girl as she searched for Melody, but to avail. The faunus had disappeared. Neo fell to her knees and slammed her fist into the ground. 'Dammit!' she cursed. 'Dammit, dammit, dammit!'

The bimbo finally caught up, panting and resting her hands on her knees. She brought a hand up and gingerly rubbed her large breasts. "Owie..." she murmured, before glancing at Neo. "Please...tell me what's going on..."

Neo sighed and pulled out her scroll. After typing a message, she handed it to the girl. **I'm the one that's been taking care of Jaune, my name's Neo. That faunus, Melody, had just raped Jaune, and had been doing it for awhile. I was trying to stop her, but she got away...**

Neo hung her head in shame, angry at herself for not being able to put a permanent end to that whore.

She was surprised when a large bust pressed against her back, and two arms wrapped around her. "Thank you for taking care of him," the girl whispered. "Jaune got back to his old self because of you...and don't worry..." The arms squeezed. "We'll find that bitch and make her pay."

Neo nodded and squirmed out of the girl's grasp. The bimbo smiled and held her hand out. "My name's Nora," she introduced. "And any friend of Jaune's is a friend of mine."

Neo couldn't help but smile, and she happily shook Nora's hand.

Nora helped the mute criminal to her feet, then looked around. "I think more than anything, we should find out where Jaune is..." She tilted her head. "Would you know where he would be, Neo?"

Neo was about to shake her head, when suddenly a location did sprout in her mind. The place Jaune often found himself hanging out at one way or another: Junior's club. Nodding, she motioned for Nora to follow her, before turning around and heading off towards the direction of the club. She hoped that somehow, the grimm hadn't gotten this far into the city, and Jaune was safe and sound.

Melody's escape replayed in her mind, and Neo clenched her fist in frustration. 'I can't believe I let her get away,' she criticized herself. 'Dammit...'

This wasn't over between them, not by a long shot. One way or another, Neo would find the faunus and make her pay for hurting Jaune.

Finally, the two stopped at the entrance of Junior's club, and Neo felt her blood run cold. Obviously, the club was invaded by the grimm, judging from the scratch marks everywhere. Neo's breath quickened, and she pushed past the doors, fearing the worst. Nora was taken aback by Neo's panic, and worry churned in her gut. "Neo..?" she asked, voice trailing off.

Neo stopped inside, looking around. A pack of beowolves were here, she could see some of the remaining bodies vanishing. Junior's goons were nursing their wounds, but there was no sign of Jaune nor Junior. Nora trailed behind, eyes wide. "Whoa," she breathed. "I had no idea the grimm had already made it past all of us..." She caught her breath. "Wait...Where's Jaune?" She turned to Neo. "You led me here, that means this is where he'd be, right?"

Neo nodded, hardly able to breathe.

Nora grabbed Neo's shoulders. "Then where is he?!"

"He's in the back," the goon closest to them said. He walked towards them, wincing and pressing his hand into his side. "The kid was injured by the grimm, Junior took him to the back rooms to heal."

Nora and Neo shared a look, before sprinting towards the back of the bar. They vaulted over the counter top and threw the back door open, immediately entering the first room.

Junior glanced up at them. "It's about time you showed up," he said to Neo, stepping out of the way to let Neo past. "The kid's asleep now, but earlier he wouldn't shut up about you." He raised an eyebrow. "The hell's going on?"

Neo ignored him, slowly approaching the unconscious blonde. He had a gash on his forehead, poorly bandaged but enough to stop the bleeding. 'Jaune...' she thought, taking his hand in hers.

"Jaune..." Nora gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. She shook her head and pulled out her scroll, dialing a number. Moments later, a voice answered.

 _"Nora, did you find him?"_

"Yeah, Ruby," Nora replied. "He's unconscious but okay, I'll send you directions."

 _"'Kay, we'll all head over as soon as we finish off these grimm!"_

Nora said goodbye and hung up. She bit her lip and glanced at Neo, eyes drifting towards the connected hands. Nora's expression softened and she gave the mute a knowing smile, before she stepped out of the room, dragging Junior by the tie. The door closed, and Neo smiled slightly. She turned back to Jaune and brushed her hand through his hair. 'Jaune...' She leaned down and gave his lips a quick kiss, before she laid herself down next to him and pulled the covers over them. Neo pressed herself against Jaune's side, wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his cheek before laying her head on his chest, taking comfort in the sound of the former knight's heartbeat.

Within minutes, she was asleep.

 **...**

 **I'm gonna go deal with stress now! Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Y'all fuckers thought I was dead, didn't you? WELL GUESS WHO'S BACK, BABY!**

 **Jackie Chan, of course. I mean, did you guys see the trailer for 'The Foreigner'? TOP NOTCH!**

 **Okay, okay, but seriously...sorry it took so long to get this story back on track. I'm pretty sure you were all worried about the future of this story, huh? Yeesh, you would not believe how many PM's I got almost weekly asking me to continue this. Well fear not! This story is NOT going to be discontinued, and it will NEVER be discontinued!**

 **But with all that out of the way, I must say that we're reaching the end of this story. It's been one hell of a road trip for this story. For all the praise it got, it's gotten an equal share of criticism. Most of it, fair. A minority, pretty fucking rude. But through thick and thin those who have continued to enjoy the story never once let me down, and I can't be thankful enough for you guys! It's because of you guys why I enjoy writing so much!**

 **So, without further ado, let's get this fuckin' show on the road! Enjoy the chapter, you little kiddos!**

 **...**

The students who had fought off the massive horde of grimm all watched in silence as Banesaw, the masked lieutenant of the White Fang, offered himself to the police and get taken away. Ironwood had taken it upon himself to imprison the terrorist, earning him a stay on board the general's private ship.

Apparently Banesaw had been the one who had orchestrated the attack, but some of the students glanced at each other with doubt. It didn't make any sense...why would he be willing to sacrifice so many of his men just for this? It certainly didn't fit in with the memo of their other operations.

No...there was something else at work.

But that could wait til later.

Right now, all Yang wanted to do was head back to Beacon and take the longest nap of her life. Seriously, she did _not_ need to deal with any more bullshit than she had today. She glanced at her partner, who looked just as equally tired, plus a little more considering Sun somehow thought now was a _great_ time to flirt with her. Blake looked at her and gave a pleading expression, but Yang simply grinned and turned the other way, whistling innocently.

Her thoughts turned to the girl she had fought earlier, Neo. Neo, Neo, Neo... Yang narrowed her eyes and glanced towards the sky. She was having mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. On one hand, the woman was a criminal, and it was Yang's job as a huntress to bring her to justice. But on the other hand, there was Neo's relationship with Jaune... Yang clenched her fingers into fists and shook her head. Whatever, it didn't matter. As long as that weird brat learned her place, Yang wouldn't argue with anything.

After all...she did help Jaune. She couldn't have been all bad in that case, right?

Speaking of Jaune...Yang sighed. She hoped the guy was alright and he had somehow managed to avoid the grimm. She didn't know how far the grimm had spread, but she hoped that they didn't get past the town's center.

"Yang!" The bombshell looked up to see her younger sister sprinting toward her.

"Ruby?" Yang raised an eyebrow as the young girl stopped in front of her, panting. "What is it?"

"I-It's Jaune!" Ruby cried, grabbing Yang's arm and tugging her away. "Nora went to go looking for him and she found him injured! We have to go see him!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Yang squirmed free of Ruby's grasp and held onto her shoulders. "Ruby, we have to get the others first!"

"O-Oh..." Ruby glanced down and chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, I almost forgot about them. I guess I'm just really worried, that's all..."

Yang smiled gently and rubbed her little sister's head. "It's okay, Sis," she assured. "Trust me, it'll be fine. Jaune's a tougher cookie than he lets on."

"What's this about Jaune?" The two sisters turned to see the rest of the gang were approaching them. It was Pyrrha who spoke. "Is he in trouble?"

"And where's Nora?" Ren asked, looking around.

Ruby held up her scroll for all to see. "Nora was worried about Jaune during the breach," she explained. "She went to go look for him, and she just found him!" She pointed at the screen. "Here, look! She sent directions!"

Weiss grimaced. "That's a rather...shady part of town, isn't it?"

Yang frowned and recognized the location. 'Junior's club?' she thought. 'If Jaune is there...does that mean Neo's there as well?' Once again, she was having mixed feelings. Was Neo someone that could even be trusted? Well, she hadn't _killed_ Yang during their fight, so maybe that counted for something?

Fine, until otherwise she'd simply think of Neo as a rival.

"Well...standing here isn't going to do us any good," Blake pointed out, heading towards the direction of the club. "We might as well get going."

"Agreed," Pyrrha said as she followed the faunus. Soon, all of them began heading towards the club, Ruby anxiously fidgeting all the while. Her nervousness began to spread to the others, and soon they were jogging towards the club.

Yang could see that everyone else, save for Blake, were eyeing the whole area suspiciously. She couldn't blame them, the whole area was known for its crime rate, but she doubted any thugs would be wanting to gang up on students from Beacon. Especially so soon after the grimm attack.

Suddenly her thoughts were broken by a loud scream that echoed through the empty streets. Everyone froze and looked around frantically. Was someone in trouble? Were there still grimm around?

The screams suddenly died, and to their horror, they watched as their questions were suddenly answered. A creeper grimm slowly emerged from an alley, staring at the six hunters hungrily. The reptilian opened its mouth, and out tumbled a bloody antler. Yang's hand shot up to her mouth. 'Was someone...eaten?!'

The others must've realized the same, their eyes fixed on the antler with shock. It was Ren who broke out of his disgust first, and he quickly charged and slashed at the grimm with his blades, cutting it down before it or anyone else had time to react. The martial artist looked down at the remains of the victim sadly, before he took a deep breath.

"Come on," he urged the rest. "Mourning won't help...we need to keep moving. The sooner we find Jaune, the better."

Ruby whimpered but nodded, quickly following after Ren. Blake followed next, turning to her companions. "He's right," she told them. "We can't save everyone, let's keep going."

Yang watched as Weiss and Pyrrha nodded silently, and she soon followed after them, bringing up the rear.

They were all silent for the rest of the trip.

...

'Neo...'

Jaune slowly opened his eyes, though he still could not see very well. He groaned and closed them again, letting the memories flow back to him one at a time. He...he was...

An image of a deer faunus mounting him flashed by his mind, and Jaune felt himself shudder.

Oh yeah...

He was...raped...

Jaune felt some bile move towards the front of his mouth, but he forced himself to swallow it. 'I was...raped,' he thought. 'Neo...what is she going to think..?'

He remembered that he went to Junior's club...and then the grimm attacked. Was he...was he injured?

A sudden flare of pain from his side confirmed that much.

'Yeesh...Junior must be pissed at me...' he realized.

So all this shit happened...why did he feel so calm? He felt like...he was at peace. He knew he wasn't dead, but everything was...nice.

The scent of Neapolitan ice cream hit his nose. Jaune sighed blissfully and tilted his head, burying his nose in the ice cream-scented hair.

Wait...hair?

Jaune's eyes shot open, and he finally got a good look where he was...and who was laying next to him. He recognized the room as one of Junior's spare rooms he kept for staff and special guests. He must've been dragged here after he was injured. More memories came back to him, and he was beginning to think more clearly.

'Neo...' He turned his head and saw the small criminal peacefully sleeping next to him, her arms wrapped around his wait and her face buried in the crook of his neck and shoulder. She squirmed and yawned, but didn't wake. Jaune thought it was absolutely adorable. He smiled gently and pulled the girl closer, closing his eyes once more.

'She's not another Melody...'

He was in love with her. It was crazy to imagine, but his mother had always told him that love worked in mysterious ways. And at that moment, the former knight could definitely agree with her.

Neo was special...he remembered the first night they met, how she saved him from himself...He knew that back then she had a different motive in mind, but now...it was like she was an entirely different person.

He wanted to tell her.

He _needed_ to tell her.

He gently shook the mute, whispering her name. "Neo...Neo..." He grinned when her face scrunched up in annoyance. "Neo, it's time to wake up..."

Neo's multi-colored eyes blinked open, and she lazily stared up at him. Then they widened, and she sat up with a silent yelp, blushing lightly. Jaune smiled and sat up as well, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Er...good morning!"

"..." Neo tilted her head to one side.

Jaune copied the motion. "Uh...Neo?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

"..." Neo blinked.

The blonde frowned and sighed. "Look, Neo...what's going- mmff!"

The small criminal had suddenly leaped on top of him without warning, capturing his lips with hers. She closed her eyes and pushed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jaune blinked in surprise, but he slowly gave in and began kissing her back, his hands settling on her waist. Neo gave a small moan of approval and she deepened their kiss, and for that moment there was nothing left of the world. There was just them and the love they had for each other. There was no need to confess, they both knew how the other felt. Besides, wasn't this just like how it happened in the movies? It certainly felt like it.

The two finally pulled away, gasping for air. They held each other's gaze for awhile, before Jaune decided to speak.

"Neo..." he whispered. "I...I know Melody sent that video to you, and I...I..."

Neo interrupted him by placing her finger on his lips. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll, typing in a message for him to see. **It's okay.** it read. **I know it wasn't your fault...forget about Melody, I promise I'll never let her hurt you again.**

Jaune grinned and nodded. "Good..." he murmured. "Neo...what happens now?"

Neo grinned and shrugged, before placing a kiss on the corner of Jaune's mouth.

"...yup, he's just in here!"

Jaune narrowed his eyes. 'That's funny,' he thought, 'I could've sworn I just heard Nora talking...'

The door burst open, startling the couple as Team RWBY and NPR flooded the room.

"Jaune!" Ruby cheered, before suddenly freezing as she caught sight of Neo.

Silence.

Yang gulped and turned to Weiss and Blake, who seemed to recognize Neo as the girl on the train. She then turned to Neo, who suddenly looked very, _very_ nervous.

She knew she had to do something, so she cleared her throat and grinned wildly. "Look at you, vomit boy!" she whistled. "Good job getting some!"

"But Yang!" Weiss hissed. "That's the woman from the-"

Yang slapped her hand over Weiss's mouth and pulled her and Blake closer. "Don't you two say a word," she warned. "I'll explain everything later."

"Er...Jaune?" Pyrrha started. "Um...who is that on top of you?"

"Oh! Uh..." Jaune gulped and looked at Neo, who wasn't meeting the gaze of anyone in the room. "She's...she's my..." He took a deep breath and brushed Neo's hair behind her ear. "She's my girlfriend, Neo!"

Neo blinked in surprise and turned to the former knight, her face bright red. Jaune grinned and pulled Neo a little closer. The criminal grinned back and nodded happily.

"...oh..." Pyrrha's face turned as crimson as her hair.

Ruby squirmed uncomfortably. "Er...since when?" she asked.

Jaune shrugged. "Since five minutes ago, I guess," he answered as honestly as he could. Neo finally turned to the group and nodded. Jaune sat up and Neo positioned herself on his lap. "She was the one that's been taking care of me all this time," he explained. "As you guys know...after I got expelled things were pretty rough...But then I met Neo, and she let me stay with her." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess...we just clicked?"

"Aww, that's so cute!" Nora squealed, bouncing to the front of the group...in more ways than one. "I'm so happy for you two!"

Ren nodded. "Likewise," he agreed, a ghost of a smile on his face. "You two look like quite the pair, Jaune. I'm happy for you."

"Actually!" Yang suddenly butted in. "There's something I need to talk about with Jaune and Neo...in _private!"_

Ruby pouted. "But that's no fair!" she whined.

The bombshell sighed and patted Ruby's shoulder. "Rubes, think about it this way," she began. "The guy's injured and he probably wants to spend time with his girlfriend. We should all visit him one at a time, right? Does that make sense?"

Yang was glad that sometimes, Ruby was just too naive, because she nodded slowly. "Yeah...you're right..." she agreed. "But I call first visit after you!"

"Sure, sis." As the group began filing out of the room, Yang grabbed Weiss' and Blake's arms. "You two, stay." she ordered.

Weiss frowned. "Yang, what-"

Yang slammed the door shut and turned to the couple, frowning. "I did you a favor shutting up Weiss and Blake here, Jaune," she told her fellow blonde. "These two know that Neo's a criminal, unlike everyone else."

Neo's face paled, and Jaune's arms tightened around her.

"Wait, Yang!" Blake gasped. "You know about them?"

The buxom brawler nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "Neo here really has been taking care of Jaune, and I agreed that as long as she's around him I wouldn't make a move against her."

"T-That's crazy!" Weiss hissed, before turning to the couple. "Jaune, you do realize your...lover is a wanted terrorist, right?!"

"A terrorist?" Jaune's eyes narrowed. "I know she was working under Torchwick, but a terrorist?"

"A train controlled by the White Fang released grimm all over the city, Jaune," Blake explained. She nodded at Neo. _"She_ was one of the people on it. Yang fought against her, even."

Jaune felt Neo stiffen, and he slowly turned to face the criminal. "Neo..?" he asked. "Is this...is this true?"

Neo wouldn't meet his eyes, and he noticed hers were tearing up. She hesitantly nodded.

"But...but why?"

Neo began pulling away, but Jaune gripped her waist tightly. "Neo, please! Tell me why!"

Neo took a deep breath and began typing a message through her scroll. **I didn't have a choice...the woman Roman and I work under...she's dangerous, Jaune. To go against her would not only mean my death...but yours, if she ever found out about you.**

Jaune read the message before he sighed. "Who, Neo?" he asked her, more gently. "Who is she?"

Neo shook her head and typed another message. **I can't say...**

"Neo!"

The ice cream themed girl flinched and squeezed her eyes shut, and Jaune immediately felt like a dick. He pulled her back onto his lap and held her there, rocking to the sides gently.

"Well, there we have it," Weiss said before turning to her teammates. "We know that there's someone else pulling the strings, but if she-" She nodded at Neo. "-isn't going to tell us who, then we'll have to perform our own investigation."

"The grimm attack was meant to spread panic," Blake realized. "So close to the Vytal Festival, too...We'll have to be alert and on the lookout throughout the rest of the school year."

"You're right," Yang agreed, before looking back at the couple. "But for now...I think they should have some more privacy."

Weiss and Blake nodded, before exiting. Yang followed after them, before turning to the couple and grinning. "Don't worry, vomit boy," she said, "I'll make sure they keep Neo's secret. Or at the very least...we'll make sure the others are okay with it." She shook her head. "I...I guess I really am happy for you," she admitted.

Jaune smiled softly. "Thank you, Yang."

The blonde bombshell nodded, then turned to Neo. "And Neo..." She smirked and held her fist up. "Sometime, you and I _are_ going to have a rematch, and don't think it'll go your way like last time."

Neo smirked and winked, sticking her tongue out. Yang nodded then closed the door, leaving the two alone.

"Neo..." The criminal turned to face Jaune, whose face was much more serious. "I...I'm not happy about what you did," he began. "A lot of people were in danger, I assume..."

Neo held her head down in shame.

"But I'm glad you're okay."

Neo looked up in surprise, and Jaune laid down and pulled the mute on top of him. "And trust me," he continued, "I don't know who this woman is, but I'm confident that she'll lose...And then you'll be free, okay?"

She didn't believe him, as much as she wanted to. Cinder was too powerful, and there was no hope for Neo getting out of her plan.

But that was another day. Right now, she had Jaune, and that was all she needed.

She cupped his face and brought him in for a kiss, one which he gladly returned.

As long as she had him, then everything would be okay.

...

 **I know, that ending makes it seem like this is the last chapter, but NOPE! Of course it ain't, you silly geese! We still got a few more left before the actual end, but we'll get there when we'll get there. Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A few weeks later...**

 **...**

The crowd groaned as Neo stomped down onto her opponent's head, depleting the rest of his aura and scoring her team victory. Neo smiled as the crowds began to cheer, who knew competing in the Vytal Festival would be so much fun?! Neo couldn't help but giggle as she threw her hands up in the air and bowed gracefully. She turned her head to glance at her teammates. Cinder had a calm smirk on her face, Emerald was busy scanning the crowd, and Murphy...was picking his nose.

Neo frowned and turned away, her eyes gazing at the one person in the crowd who stood out to her. Jaune was waving at her, and she eagerly waved back, then blew him a kiss with a wink. She could see his eyes widen, and it made her giggle again. Despite them being in an established relationship now, Jaune was still just as easy to tease as he ever was. She could feel Cinder's eyes on her back, no doubt in curiosity, and Neo made sure to turn around and give her a look that said, "None of your business."

Cinder glared, but eventually scoffed and turned away, leaving Neo with a satisfying victory. The mute criminal turned back to where Jaune sat, and waved at him one more time before following her 'team' out of the arena. The moment they were out of sight, the three abandoned Neo and began speaking in hushed tones, no doubt about their plans to destroy Beacon. Neo approached them, easily hiding her glare. Something small slipped into her hand, and with a wide smirk she brought her hand back, and sent it smacking against Emerald's ass. The thief yelped in surprise and whirled around, glaring daggers at Neo, who teetered on her heels with her hands clasped behind her back and an innocent smile on her face.

"What the hell was that for, you little creep?!" Emerald barked, her face bright red.

Murphy chuckled under his breath. "Well damn, I ain't complaining," he quipped.

Neo shared the mirth, cutely covering her mouth with her hand as she silently laughed, completely ignoring the death glare Emerald was sending her. Quickly though, Cinder got between the two, gently caressing her lackey's cheek. "Now, now, Emerald," she cooed, "don't be mad. Neo is just celebrating our victory, aren't you Neo?" She turned to look at the pint-sized assassin, who gave a mock salute in response.

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Emerald complied, still blushing furiously.

"Good, then let's get back to our discussion," Cinder suggested, turning back to Neo. "You're not needed right now, feel free to spend time with that... _boy toy_ of yours."

'Don't call him that, you slutty bitch,' Neo growled underneath her plastered grin. Waving goodbye to her 'teammates', she skipped away until she was out of sight. Once she was, she breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out her scroll, texting a hidden number. **Bug has been placed.** it read. Not much later, she got a response.

 **Thank you, Miss Neo, no doubt we'll soon be able to stop this Cinder's plans. We couldn't be doing this without you.**

She texted back, **No problem.**

The response was immediate. **Be sure to come to my office within the next hour, and bring Mr. Arc with you.**

Neo stared at the request in confusion for a couple of moments, before sighing and tucking her scroll away. She looked down at her still disguised form and wondered whether or not it was safe to turn back to her normal self. She shook her head. No, it was way too risky right now.

She hoped she could get to Ozpin's office without looking too suspicious to the trio of criminals she shared a room with. She could always make the excuse that she was having a date with Jaune, and they'd be none the wiser. To them, she was just a criminal playing with a young man's heart. Little did they know that not only was she a woman with a loving boyfriend, but she was also the newest mole in their little operation. It didn't take much convincing on Ozpin's part, though she was sure he didn't appreciate having to shorten Roman Torchwick's prison time, though he did eventually agree to it.

"Neo!" The mute glanced up and broke into a grin when she saw Jaune approaching her. He extended his arms, and she happily allowed herself to be swept up by the former knight. The two shared a passionate kiss before Jaune set her down, eyes wide. "You were amazing!" he praised. "I'm so proud of you!"

Neo pulled out her scroll and quickly typed **Thank you** before showing it to him. She rewarded his praise with a quick peck on the lips, before typing another message for him to read. **Ozpin wants to meet with us in an hour.**

"Ozpin?" Jaune raised an eyebrow. "I get you...but why me?"

Neo shrugged, frowning. **Who knows?** she texted. **But I'm sure it's nothing bad!**

"I hope so..." Jaune gulped. He has had a fear of the professor ever since he was expelled from Beacon. He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "Great..." he murmured. "More stress for me, yay..."

Neo frowned and poked her boyfriend's cheek. **Don't be that way!** she showed him. **It's not going to be anything bad, I promise!**

"Yeah..." Jaune forced a nervous grin. "You're right."

 **We still got an hour to kill, want to get something to eat?**

Jaune had a much more genuine smile on his face this time as he nodded. "Sure, let's catch a ride back down to the fairgrounds," he suggested. "I know this great noodle place I'm sure you're gonna love!"

Neo's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly, latching onto the blonde's arm as he led her to the floating arena's exit, where a bullhead was waiting for them.

When they reached the ground, Neo allowed Jaune a few moments to himself so he could recover from the flight. Humming to herself, she decided now was as good for a time as ever to switch back to her normal form. She shimmered for a second before her usual style of dress reappeared on her. She turned back to Jaune, who was finally feeling better. He gave her a shaky thumbs up, and they continued towards the noodle shop. Neo continued to hum to herself as she wrapped herself around Jaune's arm, enjoying the scent of his cologne. They sat down at the noodle shop and took their orders before Jaune turned to Neo and smiled gently.

"You know...I'm really glad things turned out the way they did, Neo," he said. "When we first met...I had no idea what to think, but you kept insisting on helping me, and, well...I just don't know where I'd be without you, _what_ I'd be without you."

'Jaune...' Neo silently said, reaching up and placing her hand on the former knight's shoulder.

"I love you, Neo," Jaune said, his hand on Neo's.

Neo blushed but smiled softly, leaning in and kissing the blonde's cheek.

"AND THERE'S THE HAPPY COUPLE!"

The two lovers jumped out of their seats as the loud voice broke through their moment, and two arms wrapped around their shoulders. They were both smushed into a pair of large, pillowy breasts, nearly suffocating them.

"N-Nora!" Jaune gasped. "C-Can't...Breathe!"

"Whoops!" Nora let the couple go, grinning sheepishly as they gasped for breath. "Sorry about that!"

Neo looked past Nora, and noticed the rest of Jaune's friends approaching, Ruby giving them an excited wave. "Hi, guys!" she cheered, before turning to the mute huntress. "Neo, you were _so awesome!_ I had no idea you could fight like that!"

While Neo entertained the energetic huntress, Jaune turned his attention to the rest of the crew, smiling at them and giving a friendly wave. "So, how's it going, guys?" he asked.

"Actually, we're here to ask you that, vomit boy," Yang said, crossing her arms and smirking. "Good to see you and Neo are doing great."

"I'll admit, I'm impressed," Weiss added. "I didn't think you'd ever get a girlfriend, Arc."

"Haha...thanks..." Jaune awkwardly chuckled, before turning to his former teammates. "I saw your match, you three did great!"

"Pfft, yeah we did!" Nora cheered, pumping her fist in the air. "Team BRNZ didn't stand a chance!"

Ren shook his head. "If it wasn't for Pyrrha we would've lost, Nora."

"SHHHHHHH!"

Pyrrha chuckled at their banter before turning to Jaune, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know...it would've been a lot easier if we had you," she told him.

Jaune shook his head. "You guys are doing just fine without me, Pyrrha," he argued, "I would've just been dead weight."

Neo overheard that, and right as she smacked his arm Pyrrha did the same. The former knight winced and cowered before the two women. Neo and Pyrrha shared a look, before giggling uncontrollably.

"Looks like you've got trouble," Blake smirked from the back of the group, having been watching silently up til then.

Jaune smiled back and looked at each member of the group one by one. It seemed perfect...almost too perfect. His smile faded as he looked down at his bowl of noodles, wondering if he truly deserved this. After all, he still had his doubts about moving past the trauma he had endured, especially Melody. Speaking of the faunus, he had no idea what happened to her in the end, the last time he saw her was when, well...

He didn't want to think about it.

He only hoped he'd never have to see her again. Turning to look at Neo, he felt a wave of comfort wash over him. That's right...as long as he had Neo, things would be alright, he could finally be happy again. Reaching over, he took her hand in his. Neo jumped slightly and turned to face her boyfriend, and the two stared at each other for several moments before leaning in for a chaste kiss.

The cheers of Jaune's friends were deafening.

...

Neo glanced at her boyfriend, who was as stiff as a board and was taking short, rapid-fire breaths. She frowned and pulled out her scroll, typing a quick message for the blonde to see. **It's going to be fine.** it said. **I'm here for you, no matter what happens.**

"R-Right," Jaune hastily agreed, taking a sharp breath. "Thanks."

The two were riding the elevator up to Ozpin's office, growing closer and closer to whatever the man wanted to speak with them about. Understandably, Jaune was quite nervous, not that Neo blamed him. In truth, she was nervous as well, she couldn't think of why Ozpin would want to see them. Was it about Cinder? No, Jaune had nothing to do with that, so it couldn't have been about her. Neo's eyes widened. Was...Was Ozpin going to betray her?! No, no, that was silly!

'C'mon, Neo, think...' she urged herself, tapping her chin. However, before she could come up with an answer the elevator doors opened, leading into Ozpin's office. The man in question was standing with his back to them, gently sipping his coffee as he watched the festivities down below.

Without turning to them, he said, "I'm glad you two could make it. Please, have a seat."

The two sat down in front of his desk, silently waiting for the man to turn to them. After a solid two and a half minutes of silence, Ozpin finally turned around. He gave the duo a soft smile and sat down across from them. Setting his coffee down, he neatly folded his hands over his desk and cleared his throat. "First of all, Miss Neo," he began, turning to the mute. Neo straightened herself up, sitting at attention. Ozpin smirked and continued. "I would once again like to thank you for providing us with inside information about Cinder's plan, but as you can see..." He reached down and pulled up a file, setting it down on the table. "You have quite the criminal record."

Neo blushed and looked away, not meeting the enigmatic man's eyes.

"However, I've been speaking with the council, and, well..." Ozpin paused to push up his glasses. "While we can't say the same for Mr. Torchwick, we are willing to offer you a pardon for your crimes."

Both Jaune and Neo gasped and looked at each other with a mixture of surprise and excitement. Ozpin watched the two and smiled.

"Miss Neo, when I look at you, I see a young girl with vast amounts of potential, who simply strayed down the wrong path." He took a moment to look at her. "I believe you have the capability for justice and peace, which is why...I want to offer you a student position here at Beacon Academy during the next school year." He extended his hand towards the girl.

Neo's eyes widened considerably, and her hands shot up to her mouth. A second chance...at Beacon?! She had no idea how to even remotely respond! She turned to look at Jaune who was just as shocked. Jaune then turned to her and broke out into a grin. "Go for it!" he urged. "You deserve this, Neo!"

Neo smiled back and was about to shake Ozpin's hand, but she stopped. She looked back at Jaune, who was still grinning. But beneath that grin, she saw...longing in his eyes. Neo frowned as she looked back at Ozpin, and she shook her head as she typed something onto her scroll.

 **I'm sorry, Professor Ozpin, but I can't accept. Not without Jaune.**

"N-Neo!" Jaune gasped.

Ozpin simply chuckled. "I figured as much," he admitted, "which is why I wasn't done. Mr. Arc," he turned to face Jaune now. "I've heard from various sources about a great deal of stress you went through. I suppose it must've been quite the traumatic experience, hmm?"

"I...I..."

"And yet, you persevered," Ozpin said, gesturing at the young man. "You showed tremendous bravery in the face of hardship, and I realize my original decision was a huge mistake. The world needs a huntsman like you, Mr. Arc. A huntsman who is kind, courageous, knows what true hardship is, and..." He waved at Neo. "Someone to love. Mr. Arc, starting this next year I would like to have you return to Beacon Academy."

"S-Sir!" Jaune gasped, and tears began streaking down his face. "I...I...Thank you! Thank you so much!" He stood up and slammed a fist against his chest. "I swear I won't let you down, Professor Ozpin!"

"I know you won't," Ozpin said, smiling. He cleared his throat once more and stood up. "Now, run along now, you two. Surely you must want to spread the good news."

Jaune and Neo nodded, and quickly rushed into the elevator. As soon as the door closed, they threw their arms around each other, smashing their lips together in a frenzy. This was a time to celebrate, a time to be alive. Neo moaned silently as Jaune's hands squeezed her ass, and she reached down eagerly and grasped his growing bulge.

Oh, yes...Something felt very, _very_ alive!

...

 **And so the story reaches its conclusion! I'm so glad I finally managed to get this done! It's been one hell of a road to travel on, but it sure as hell was worth it. I'm glad so many of you enjoyed this story, I couldn't have done it without your continued support! Seriously, I love you guys! Be sure to stick around for even MORE stories, including Beacons: A RWBY x Pokemon crossover I'd love for you to check out right now! Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Later that night...**

Neo squeezed her thighs together as she sat down on her knees, looking at the cock gently bobbing up and down. She was naked, as was Jaune, and not a word passed by them. Save for their heavy breathing, it was dead silent. Neo smiled at the cock and gently reached up for it, wrapping both her hands around it and stroking it up and down...up and down.

Jaune let out a soft groan, his dick twitching just the tiniest bit. Neo glanced up at him with a smirk, and she slowly slid her tongue out, flicking it against the tip of his member. She felt herself shiver, and her legs squeezed together again as her wetness flowed down her legs. He...he was _delicious!_ She wanted more, she _needed_ more! Humming to herself, she delightfully licked all around his member, her tongue darting all around the sides. Her small hand squeezed his balls, and the other continued to jack him off as she once more licked the tip. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth wide and slid Jaune's cock into her mouth.

"N-Neo!" Jaune gasped, his hands gripping her hair tightly.

Neo grinned around his cock, and immediately began bobbing her head up and down, sucking with all the vigor she could muster. She briefly released him with a gasp of her own to suck on his balls, before running her tongue up his entire length back to the tip. She took him back in her mouth again, reaching down to play with her clit as she sucked his cock.

"N-Neo...I'm gonna..." Jaune began.

'That's right, give it to me!' Neo silently urged, deepthroating his entire length. That proved to be the final straw for Jaune, and he shot out string after string of cum into the mute's mouth.

Neo was in heaven as she swallowed every last drop, not willing to let any of her lover's seed go to waste. She finally released Jaune's cock from her mouth, quickly running her hands up and down the length to keep it from going soft. The knight didn't last long at all, but Neo didn't mind. No doubt he'd get better as time went on.

Neo jumped straight to business, hopping onto their shared bed and positioning herself on her hands and knees. She turned to Jaune and wiggled her ass seductively, licking her lips as she did so. Jaune's dick seemed to spring right back to life, and he swiftly mounted her. Not a single word passed by them as he thrust into her, catching Neo by surprise. He was never so...so rough! Near inaudible noises resembling moans tore from Neo's throat as Jaune slammed his hips against her again and again. He could feel him stretching her tight walls, and she collapsed onto her arms, her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

'Jaune...Jaune!" her mind raved over and over again. 'I love you!'

"Neo...you feel so good!" her lover groaned, taking a brief moment to slap her ass. "Sorry, but I don't think I can last...aahh!...much longer!"

'Who cares about that?!' Neo hissed as she silently howled. 'Just cum inside me. I need you, Jaune, I fucking NEED you!"

"N-NEOO!" Jaune moaned loudly as he dumped his cum into her pussy. Neo's back arched like a cat as she accepted it, her own orgasm flushing over Jaune's cock. The two collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily. Neo groaned and snuggled close to Jaune, wrapping herself around him. She lazily reached down and gently stroked Jaune's softening cock, smiling up at her lover as she did so.

"Neo..." Jaune breathed. "I...I love you, so much."

...

...

 _"I...I...l-l-love you too...J-Jaune..."_

Jaune's eyes widened. "Neo, you-"

Neo silenced him by pressing her finger against his lips. _"I...love you...Jaune..."_ she whispered. She leaned in and kissed the knight lovingly, a kiss he happily returned.

 **...**

 **Now here is a riddle for you...who was the true angel in disguise?**


End file.
